Alexis Aaeng graduates magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in History. Alexis served as the 2015-2016 valedictorian in Jewish Studies. Below is her valedictory speech, which she gave at the Jewish Studies Graduation Ceremony on May 6, 2016.
Sholem Aleichem, Gut Morgen, and Good morning! Thank you all for being here. When I originally received the email asking me to speak at Graduation as Valedictorian, I had this overwhelming feeling of excitement in conjunction with a feeling of “holy moly, this is actually happening.” I was incredibly excited to have this opportunity, but I was also so unsure about what I was supposed to say. And this feeling of uncertainty really got me thinking about what it means to be graduating from college in 2016.I am by no means the first to grapple with this uncertainty. People in their twenties have had no idea what they were doing with their life since the dawn of time. But, regardless of this fact, every time I mention the fact that I am graduating from college, the first question that anyone asks me, whether it is a member of my family or a random woman on the bus to the airport, is “what is next?” And, I have to tell you, this is a really scary question! Because, the majority of the people that I know who are in my same situation really have no idea.
This question of “what’s next” even comes up in popular culture, with many TV shows attempting to wrestle with the uncertainty of being a post-grad in the millennial age. In a recent episode of the HBO show Girls, which follows the stories of four friends in their twenties trying to figure out their lives after college, Shoshanna, a Jewish twenty-something much like myself but with a slightly more colorful wardrobe, responded to the “what’s next?” question by saying: “There aren’t exactly, like, a wealth of options for an NYU graduate with experience in many aspects of brand management.” (For those of you who are familiar of the show, I tried to do my best Shoshanna impression. I hope I did her justice.) But, she’s not wrong. And, in an episode of the Comedy Central show Broad City, which is also a personal favorite of mine and follows the misadventures and experiences of two friends named Abbi and Ilana who are trying to navigate post-college life in New York City (sensing a theme, here?), Ilana, when asked about her experience at college by a woman whose child she is babysitting, responded with “College was…expensive.” She is also not wrong.
Although I have spent the majority of my time at CU counting down the days until graduation, as I stand here on the “big day”, I realize that I want to remember college as something more than an expensive four years of my life. I want to remember it as a time when I read hundreds of books, wrote an immeasurable amount of words, became involved in literally everything that you can become involved in as an undergraduate student in the Program in Jewish Studies, and watched an ungodly amount of TV. And, as I am closing this chapter of my life, I realize that I am not only equipped to be a real emerging adult, but I am also licensed to shout "YAS QWEEN" every time I take to the streets and do something really cool! Because if there is anything that I have learned in these last four years, it is that uncertainty is not necessarily a bad thing. In my experience, it is the times that I am feeling the most uncertain that the best things end up happening to me.
The Program in Jewish Studies changed my life (and no, that is not a cliché and they didn’t tell me to say that). If it weren’t for this program, I wouldn’t have found my one true academic love, which happens to be the very popular subject of Yiddish Radio, and I would not have an answer to the “what’s next?” question. I would also be questioning my ability to exist in the “real world” a lot more seriously. Part of what makes the PJS so special is the fact that it makes you feel like you have a chance to really find your place in both this university while you are a student and when you ultimately leave the university as an emerging adult.
Not only have I learned countless things inside the classroom (re: all of those papers and books that I mentioned earlier), but I have also gotten some really good advice outside of the classroom. One of the most memorable pieces of advice came to me in the middle of that time in every senior’s life, you know, what I am talking about. It is usually around January or February, where you’re realizing that you need to figure out how to answer the “what’s next?” question ASAP because time is running out. As I was having my weekly panic attack, Dr. Zilla Goodman sat me down and she said something along the lines of: “Darling, (and I am not going to try and do an impression of Dr. Goodman because she is unparalleled), uncertainty isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Being a twenty-something shouldn’t be taken for granted. Now is the only time where it is okay to go sign a lease for a gross apartment and eat bad food because taking those risks is what ultimately leads to the most rewarding outcome. Because in the end, it doesn’t really matter.” And, she’s right.
Now, I am supposed to offer a piece of advice for my fellow graduates, something that will help propel all of us into the future successfully. There are a number of really cliché things that I could say, “go and change the world, be amazing human beings, etc.,” but I don’t think that you need me to tell you to do that. You’re all going to do that anyway. But, if there is one piece of advice I could give, it is that you should go through life without expectations. Because when you allow yourself to be completely open to new experiences, the possibilities are, dare I say, endless. There is no way that when I came to this University four years ago that I could have ever expected that I would be standing here speaking to you all as Valedictorian and a blossoming Yiddishist, but here I am.
Thank you so much to everyone for being here and being so supportive of me and my fellow graduates over the last four years. And congratulations, my friends. As Elle Woods said in the classic flick, Legally Blonde, “We did it!”