'You all are the hope'
"Self-doubt used to hold me down, but through the community at HCC I have realized that there is hope, and I am capable of success, so are all of you." – Henry Zucco '23
Commencement 2023
Student Adress
By HENRY ZUCCO '23 (Environmental Science)
HCC STEM Scholar
"When I look out at all of you, I see the boundless effort you have put into achieving great things, building a stronger community, and advancing your intellectual, academic, and personal selves. Congratulations to each and every graduating student today!
This is no small feat. We all came to HCC with the intention of pushing ourselves further towards greatness.
When I started here in Fall 2020, it was the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Classes were entirely virtual, and we faced adversity every single day, but together we didn't give up and here we are finishing out strong. I know many of you work jobs, full time or part time, and many of you have families you are raising and loved ones you are caring for.
For my part, I have worked a job every day of my academic career at HCC. But still, we made time to write papers for Humanities classes and do labs for Science classes because all these obligations and all these challenges have not stopped the community at HCC from coming together and proving that we are a part of the HCC family. We have persisted to overcome one obstacle after another, sharing our strength and never losing sight of our goals.
Along my academic journey the biggest challenge I have faced has been doubt, doubt in my own ability to succeed and get ahead.
Self-doubt is like a little shadow that's always by your side, watching and waiting for its chance to critique you. I am sure there are some of you out there who experience self-doubt as I have experienced it, but I am here today to tell you that feeding that doubt is not worth it. Everyone here has the ability to succeed, to pass with good grades, transfer to a great school, and get a degree. I know I struggled, every day with self-doubt but here I am graduating and transferring to Bowdoin College this coming fall.
Self-doubt used to hold me down, but through the community at HCC I have realized that there is hope, and I am capable of success, so are all of you.
During my time at HCC, I have had the immense honor of working alongside a brilliant cohort of STEM Scholars and amazing instructors in the NSF STEM Scholars Program. Through this group I was able to appreciate the value that every one of us holds within ourselves.
Your experiences, your knowledge, your language, family, and friends, all build into your own inherent value. With this value, you are making important contributions to the longevity of the HCC community.
HCC creates a culture of involved collaboration, impressive academic talent, and true diversity. It is so easy to get caught up in worrying about what the future may hold for us, forgetting what we hold in this moment.
We have come together today to celebrate not only the closing of a chapter, but also the beginning of something so much more than the end.
For each of you here graduating and attending today, you are all part of the process of building a better future for yourselves, for your families, your communities, and the world.
You all are the hope that we so desperately need.
Everyone at HCC has worked boundlessly to create a culture that fosters deeply educated, critical, bright, creative, and hopeful graduates who will move on to achieve personal and professional greatness.
Holyoke Community College has become more than just a college to me. It has become like a home to me, and the community has become my family. I will feel the impact that HCC has made on me for the rest of my life, and this is true for you all as well.
HCC is a force of positive growth in the community that will continue for generations to come, lifting individuals and families and supporting them as they achieve their full potential.
Congratulations, everyone, and good luck in all your next chapters! Thank you."
PHOTO: Henry Zucco '23 delivers the student address to the Class of 2023 at Commencement June 3.
