Senior Mechanical Engineering Major Urges Classmates to ‘Make Good Choices’

Congratulations, Class of 2026. We did it. All of our hard work has finally paid off. Whether you have been here for two years or five years, you did it. You have overcome all the different obstacles thrown in your way. Through your hard work and determination, you are leaving here today with your degree.

Before I continue, I would like to give a brief introduction. My name is Alexis Fernandez. During my time at the University of New Haven, I have worked as a Charger ambassador and a study abroad peer advisor. I have also been president of both the sorority and the Society of Women Engineers, and I have been a proud member of the Tagliatela College of Engineering.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to my family as well. Over the past four years, they have supplied me with the utmost support. I would not be the woman I am today if it were not for their continuous words of encouragement. During the hardest weeks, they were always there for me. Those of you who are now graduating are here for the same reason. On behalf of all graduates, I would like to thank all of our families for helping us through this chapter in our lives. A good support system is the key to success.

I’m sure many of you were given words of wisdom to guide you through your time here. Today, I’d like to tell you all about my mom’s words of advice. For as long as I can remember, before leaving the house, my mom would always make sure to tell me, “Make good choices.” Whether I was going on a drive, about to take the field at my soccer game, or leaving for school, those three words have been a constant in my life.

Choosing the University of New Haven to be your undergraduate institution was one of many good choices you will make in our lifetime. Every day you are faced with different choices to make, each with a different outcome than the other. The choice to try something new like studying abroad. The choice to go to your professor’s office hours for extra help on an assignment. Going to class on time or hitting snooze on your alarm, going out downtown or staying in to study, joining a new club, or applying for an internship. I could go on, but I’ll stop myself there. No matter which options you’ve chosen, it is clear you made good choices, because they have led to this moment.

I, like most of you, came to the University of New Haven not knowing anybody, worried to meet new people. One choice you have all had to make is who you surround yourself with. My first day of classes I started a conversation with a person in my English class. We ended up having lunch at Bartels and grabbed fortune cookies for dessert. I kept that fortune in the back of my phone for the past four years and would like to share it with you: “Tomorrow will be a productive day. Don’t oversleep.”

Now, if you know me at all, you know how laughable that fortune is, as I will never pass up the opportunity to sleep in late. But I always kept this fortune in the back of my mind when thinking about the future. It is important to be proactive in planning your next steps, and you never know what the next day might bring. Though it felt small in the moment, that one good choice led to four years of great friends and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, with many more to come.

Starting college was a scary experience, something new, but it’s something we all got through. Though it may be scary now, the idea of leaving here today and beginning a whole new chapter of your life, you will get through it. You made the friends, you joined the clubs, and you did the scary things. You made the good choices, and I promise you, you can do it again.

You will all be faced with a number of choices in your future. You may be offered the opportunity to travel for work and go places you’ve never been before. You may begin to work toward your master’s degree. You may be returning home to be with family. You may have no clue what you’re going to do, and that’s ok. I will be moving to Boston to start a job, and I am absolutely terrified to be away from my family and start something new, but I know my mom will be on the phone every day with her three words of advice.

Regardless of the path ahead, just remember. Tomorrow will be a productive day. Don’t oversleep. You have worked so hard for this moment, and you deserve to enjoy it.

Congratulations, graduates and make good choices. Thank you.

Alexis Fernandez ’26, who will receive her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, was a finalist to serve as a student speaker at Commencement. The content above is based on the speech she delivered as part of the competitive process to select the student Commencement speakers.