‘Make the Best Decision for Yourself, Not Something that Makes Other People Feel Good for You’ 2024 Grad Speaker Tells Classmates
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate Brady Reinhard ’24 is wasting no time in putting his experiences as a teacher and student to work. The Class of 2024 Winter Commencement student speaker shared lessons learned in college and life with fellow classmates, family, friends and faculty gathered for the morning commencement ceremony at The Weidner on Saturday, December 14, 2024.
One of many profound comments about his decision to choose to attend college close to home and teaching as his future career: “I made the best decision for myself, not something that makes other people feel good for me.”
It’s fair to say that Reinhard has gained remarkable insight in just four years. You can read his full remarks below:
“Good morning UWGB! Usually, people start out their speech by mentioning things that they look forward to, but I am going to start us off today with some of the things I look forward to NOT having to say: “I can see that you’re on your phone, nobody voluntarily stares at their crotch like that.” Another popular one: “Can you please stop touching each other,” because for some reason, teenage boys like putting each other in headlocks. And my personal favorite, “I never thought I would have to say this, but can we not inhale helium during class please?” If you weren’t able to tell by now, yes, I am a high school teacher. All jokes aside though, getting the chance to speak on this stage is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon any graduate, and I know, like many of you, it hasn’t been an easy journey getting to this point.
I started my journey as a Phoenix my freshman year, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. People were still isolating from each other, but I was one of the lucky few who had a hybrid class, meaning one day in-person, another online. The first class I ever walked into was Professor Levintova’s Politics in Sports. Each person had their own table, but Professor Levintova made everything else about her class just like she would any other year, which restored some kind of normalcy. The first thing she had everyone do was introduce themselves, and when she stopped on me, I introduced myself like I had many times before, “Hi, my name is Brady Reinhard, and I am majoring in political science.” Bingo. Those two words caught her attention right away. She then said, “you should join this new student organization on campus, the Model European Union Club, I will send you the Zoom link, you should come.” The first thought running through my head after this exchange was “what the heck is the European Union.” My second thought was that she had to have been talking to someone else, because I never would do something like this in high school; a student org, having to talk to people, no! I didn’t want to let her down though, I mean she seemed so excited about it. How could I say no?! I told myself that I would at least go to the first meeting and try it out. This was my first lesson in college, always say yes to an opportunity when it presents itself, no matter how much your anxiety is telling you to say no. That singular kind gesture from one of my professors led to not only me becoming president of that organization for almost four years, but enumerable other opportunities that could have all vanished but all for that one “yes.”
This is usually the part in the speech where I tell you “And everyone lived happily ever after.” I really wish it were that simple. At the start of my sophomore year, I was offered the opportunity to be a peer mentor for a class of incoming freshman, basically meaning that I would be their guide in navigating their first year. Up until this point, I had been pretty set in what I wanted to do, and that was to go to law school after college and eventually become a lawyer. However, there was always a small corner of my mind that was occupied by my love of teaching. That blossomed in third grade, when my teacher made an indelible mark on me by being there during the roughest time in my life. There were days where I would sit in his classroom during recess, and he would let me help him grade assignments or tidy up his room a little bit. His influence on my life at the time meant so much to me that we even made a pact, where we agreed that I would come back to teach with him one day. Although I never got the chance to go back and teach with him, I began to see the same light in these college freshman students that he saw in me that year. I quickly began to notice that my favorite part of the whole peer mentoring experience was being able to sit down with each of my students one-on-one and have real conversations with them about how they were adjusting to college, sometimes giving them that push to try something new or instilling confidence in their abilities. Let me tell you, there is no prouder moment than seeing your students’ become advocates for themselves and leaders in their own right. If I am to be remembered for one thing once I leave this stage, I want it to be that I made somebody’s day at least a little brighter at some point, because my freshman students surely made an impact on me at a time where I felt very much out of place in my own world.
Not only was this experience transformative in terms of my ultimate life trajectory, but it is also emblematic as to why we call ourselves “the Phoenix.” When I was a kid, we used to drive by the UWGB sign on Highway 57 almost daily, and unlike most colleges who have bird logos out there, where it’s just a snapshot of its face, I always wondered why ours was so nondescript. I now understand why our logo is faceless, as it comes to represent each and every one of us as students and graduates; coming in not knowing much about ourselves but leaving with our heads held high and a newfound identity. And not only is the Phoenix standing tall, it is soaring above everything trying to weigh it down, always reaching for the sky, even when we might land flat on our faces. And trust me, I’ve got the bruises to prove it
The moral of the story: never be afraid to take the jump that people warn you against. You’re going to hear all the anecdotes from people you may know and respect, “but they don’t make enough money, are you really going to be able to do that for the rest of your life,” and the all too common “that’s all you’re doing with your degree?!” I won’t tell you that it is going to be easy at first, because it’s not; there were many nights that I laid awake questioning if I had made the right decision, letting different scenarios play out in my mind. However, I now know that I made the best decision for myself, not something that makes other people feel good for me.
If I had stayed on the safe route to my degree, secluded in my little bubble of comfort, I would have been on the road to short-term success, but long-term failure. That’s why my challenge to you is probably something that goes against every fiber of your being, and that is to take risks. Of course it isn’t going to be easy, but like the great philosopher Kelly Clarkson tells us “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Pursue that job which everybody tells you is a long shot. What’s the worst that’s going to happen? They’re going to tell you ‘no.’ Be ambitious, set high expectations for yourself, and never settle for what could’ve been. Lead the life that you want to live, and never look back.
Today starts a new you, so get out there, preferably after the ceremony’s over, and chart a new path forward, and above all else remember: you are a Phoenix, we were born to rise.
Thank you and congratulations!”
