Rain Does Little to Dampen Smiles and Joy at Florida Tech’s Fall Commencement

It was gray and rainy outside, but inside Florida Tech’s Clemente Center on Saturday, there was nothing but bright smiles. What fell to the ground there was not raindrops but shiny, colorful streamers blasted from the rafters, and that rumbling wasn’t thunder but thunderous applause.

In other words, it was Fall Commencement.

Led by President John Nicklow and featuring a stirring keynote address from CBS Saturday Morning co-host and author Michelle Miller, the graduate and undergraduate ceremonies saw hundreds of students crossing the stage and the conferring of more than 1,130 degrees overall to students from 47 countries and 24 U.S. states.

“Today is an acknowledgement and celebration of extraordinary hard work, focus and perseverance,” Nicklow told the graduates. “I have seen the power of education to transform, to uplift, to unlock, and I know you, too, have experienced that over your time at Florida Tech.”

Many grads have likely dreamed of this day, and that dreaming should not stop after graduation, Miller said in her remarks.

“Please, please dare to dream,” she told the students. “The guy who built an entire kingdom just down the road said of dreams, ‘All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.’”

And while Walt Disney’s advice is sound, it needs a dose of reality from Colin Powell, she added. “’A dream doesn’t become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination and hard work,’” Powell has said, to which Miller added, “…and a willingness to never give up.”

Miller said, “As you step forth from this place my wish is that you are 1) inspired, 2) optimistic and 3) confident, and yet I want you to hold on to that twinge of anxiety in your gut because it can be the fuel that gets you to the next step.”

She summarized an action plan for the new graduates: “Dream big, work hard and never give up.”