'Be Proud'
"As you continue to construct your life story, remember to live with kindness, compassion, and empathy toward others, for it is through our connections with one another that we do our best work." – Jason Maurice, associate professor of psychology
Editor's Note: Jason Maurice, associate professor of psychology, gave the following remarks during his faculty address to graduates at HCC"s 77th annual Commencement June 1.
'I want to welcome you all and thank you for coming out to recognize the accomplishments of the 2024 graduating class of Holyoke Community College. It is my privilege to give the faculty commencement speech today.
This speech is usually given by the winner of our Marieb Award for Teaching Excellence, which this year was Fred Cooksey. I'm sure if Professor Cooksey were here he would express his sincere gratitude to both the students who nominated him for the Marieb Award and his colleagues who chose him as this year's recipient.
Instead, it is my honor to celebrate the graduating class of 2024; AND, I had less time to prepare a speech so it will likely be shorter – it's a win/win for everyone.
As an English professor, Fred would have inspired you with his beautiful prose. However, I'm a psychology professor, so instead I'm going to talk about scientific theory and research. That other speech probably doesn't sound that bad now.
Graduates, each of you has a unique narrative, a story that has shaped you and brought you to this pivotal moment of achievement in your lives. The time you spent here at HCC has been just a small piece of your larger life-narrative, but, how will you weave your experiences here at Holyoke Community College into that larger life-narrative? And how will your time here change your future self?
Personality psychologist Dan McAdam's Theory of Narrative Identity suggests that we all construct an ever-changing life-narrative that creates consistency between our past, present, and future, providing us with a coherent identity. In other words, HOW we tell the story of our past largely determines who we are in the present and how we will approach the future. Dr. McAdams and his colleagues conduct research through analyzing participants' life stories and have found several general themes in these autobiographical narratives, which can be found in everyone's life story.
While everyone's situation is unique, ALL of the graduates here will have their own stories about the struggles and sacrifices made for their education. Whether that's staying up all night to study for an exam, missing time with family to finish a paper, or retaking a particularly difficult class to get a better grade, you all have put in an immense amount of hard work and dedication, and, despite all of the set-backs, YOU DID IT.
McAdams called these Redemption themes, where the events of your story begin in a relatively negative state but end on a positive. Those difficulties you faced, those struggles you endured, and the barriers you overcame led – and will continue to lead – to rewards and growth. It is important to include these types of stories in your life-narrative as they build what psychologists call self-efficacy – a belief that you can achieve your goals.
Remembering these stories will increase your persistence, determination, and grit to help you overcome the inevitable obstacles we will all face in life. Or, perhaps despite today's achievement, some of you are experiencing Contamination themes in your current life-story. McAdams described these themes as ones where the narrator is in a relatively negative place by the end of the story. Perhaps you didn't do as well as you had hoped and didn't get into the next educational program you were hoping to attend, or maybe you are having difficulty finding a job even with your new degree, or some unforeseen negative event has become the focus of your story.
Always remember, while the facts of your story do not change, you are the narrator of your life story and you have the power to intentionally construct your story – there are opportunities for creating meaning and learning from every situation. Research has shown that people whose life-narrative involves finding positive meaning even from negative events tend to be happier and show higher emotional well-being. And, when you find yourself in the midst of a Contamination moment in your life story, just keep moving forward, because there is a future Redemption story on the other side of that difficult moment.
All of you will have stories of your time at HCC that involve you as a driving force behind your success – you worked extra hard to pass that difficult course, you juggled work, family, and classes while maintaining your GPA, you pushed yourself and overcame challenges.
McAdams would call these themes of Agency – agency involves empowerment, initiative, and personal achievement. You should be proud of yourself because YOU ARE the driving force behind your success and achievements.
But, no one achieves success on their own. All of you will also have stories involving themes of Communion; that is, relationships and shared experiences with the people around you who helped move your story forward. Your narratives will involve people, many of whom are here today, who supported you during your educational journey at HCC - friends and family who believed in you even when you didn't, professors who became mentors, or classmates who grew into lifelong friends.
As you continue to construct your life story, remember to live with kindness, compassion, and empathy toward others, for it is through our connections with one another that we do our best work. As you reflect back on your time and experiences at HCC, how will you construct your narrative? How will you integrate these experiences into your life-story? What will be the predominant themes in your stories and how will that influence you as you begin your next chapter?
In closing, it is with sincere gratitude that I am able to represent the faculty at today's commencement and I want to express OUR immense pride in the 2024 graduates of HCC. We wish you all future success as you continue to construct your own unique narrative.
Congratulations 2024 graduates of Holyoke Community College!"
PHOTO: Associate professor of psychology Jason Maurice delivers the faculty address at Commencement on June 1.
