Students Urged Not to Let Realism Get in Way
of Dreams as More than 6,000 Graduate from UCSD
Ioana Patringenaru | June 23, 2008
Students celebrated at the Sixth College graduation Saturday at RIMAC Field.
“How does it feel to graduate from one of the finest universities in the world?” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox asked about 500 seniors during the Sixth College graduation Saturday at RIMAC Field. A big cheer erupted from the crowd in answer to her question.
The graduating Six College seniors were among the more than 6,000 students and 40,000 parents and family members and friends that took part in nine graduation ceremonies June 21 to 23 on campus. Sixth College’s graduation was just one of nine ceremonies that took place on the UCSD campus this past weekend. This year’s celebrations featured several well-known speakers, including Irwin Mark Jacobs, co-founder and chairman of the board of directors of Qualcomm Inc.,
This year, graduates, their parents, administrators and faculty braved record-setting temperatures to attend the celebrations. The graduates had their caps to protect themselves from the sun. Many parents wore hats. Bottled water sold briskly. Umbrellas seemed to sprout everywhere in the audience, pattered with dots, stripes, Asian-inspired motifs and even leopard spots.
Melanie Odell shielded herself from the sun and the heat with a large zebra-print umbrella. She had come to see one of her daughters, Molly, graduate from Sixth College, with a major in political science and linguistics. “I’m totally proud and honored to be here,” Odell said. Her daughter loved studying at UCSD, she added, and has made life-long friends here.
Preparing for the future
UCSD aims to provide graduates with skills they can use to solve global problems, Chancellor Fox said during her speech at Sixth College. Global warming is one of these problems, added Naomi Oreskes, a UCSD science historian who served as keynote speaker at the Sixth College celebration Saturday. She will soon become the college’s provost. Oreskes warned students not to be overly cautious when they face problems and have to make choices.
“There will be many people advising you to be realistic,” she said. “And there is a time and a place for that. But realism can also be used to deflate the expectations of those who could be agents of change”
Some, who label themselves as realists, say we can’t stop using fossil fuels, Oreskes pointed out. And since we can’t stop global warming, we just have to get used to it, these same voices add. But scientists know that the likelihood of disastrous climate shifts increases as we wait to act, Oreskes said. “The argument for realism in dealing with climate change is an excuse to resist change,” she said. She urged students not to let anyone tell them they can’t pursue their dreams because that would be unrealistic.
Students’ hopes and dreams
UCSD science historian Naomi Oreskes spoke at the Sixth College graduation.
Tara Ramanathan’s goals and dreams include alleviating poverty and increasing access to education in poor countries, said F. Richard Moore, Sixth College’s interim provost. He introduced Ramanathan, who was this year’s student speaker at her college’s graduation. The senior has served as a research assistant to the National Institute of Urban Affairs in New Delhi, India. She also co-founded and was involved in many campus organizations. After graduation, she will head up to Northern California to teach as part of the Teach for America program.
During her speech, Ramanathan asked her fellow seniors to make one noise they had never made before—right then and there. Her request was followed by cheering, hissing, howling and growling. She put an end to the exercise by reminding fellow students that she only had five minutes to speak.
“Do something challenging every day,” she said. “If you feel uncomfortable, you know you’re doing something right.”
Meanwhile, Sally “Sundae” Smith said her dream is acting. The 52-year-old theater major went back to school after running a stained-glass business with her husband, Buddy. In the past, she had tried to study business and marketing, but she just didn’t have a passion for it, she said. Then she found theater. “The arts opened up new doors for me,” she said. “I am very excited.”
Andrew Kim, another Sixth College graduate, said he simply felt free. “I feel like I can start my life,” he said. This summer, the visual arts major will intern at an advertising company in Carlsbad. Kim was particularly visible during his graduation ceremony because he sported a crown on top of his cap. His sister just put it there, he explained.
Graduation speakers
Andrew Kim, a visual arts major, wore a cap decorated with a crown.
Keynote speakers at graduations across campus included Jacobs, who spoke Saturday at the commencement ceremony for the School of International Relations/Pacific Studies. He gave a talk titled “The Revolution in Telecommunications Worldwide: Opportunities and Challenges.”
Also Saturday, Terrence Roberts, one of the nine students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957, spoke to the 950 graduates of Thurgood Marshall College. Roberts, now co-chair of the department of Master of Arts in Psychology at Antioch University of Los Angeles, talked about his experiences.
Robert P. Akins, who received a doctorate in applied physics from UCSD in 1983, gave the commencement address for the Office of Graduate Studies commencement ceremony Sunday. Akins was one of the co-founders of Cymer, the world’s leading supplier of excimer light sources which are essential to today’s semiconductor marketplace..
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