“Remarkable times are the context in which remarkable people and remarkable communities develop.”

That’s the message Associate Professor of Sport Management Kyle Rich shared with Brock’s newest graduating class during the morning ceremony of the University’s 116th Convocation on Friday, Oct. 18.

During his address, Rich reflected on how different life was when graduates began their degrees four years ago — and how extraordinary it is that they completed their academic journey during such unprecedented times.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency. Life came to a grinding halt, and post-secondary institutions around the world — Brock included — temporarily transitioned to a virtual learning model.

“The early years of your studies will be marked as some of the most precarious, difficult and disrupted times of recent memory,” Rich said. “On a scale not felt in decades, we lived a collective experience that changed the way we saw the world and understood our relationships with the individuals, the groups and institutions that make up our communities.”

Choosing to pursue their degrees during a global pandemic was a “bold and courageous choice” Rich said. Overcoming the unique challenges of doing so, he added, shaped the graduating class into “resilient, thoughtful and empathetic critical thinkers” who are prepared to tackle anything their futures hold.

With the support of friends, family and a community of more than 120,000 Brock alumni in their corner, this year’s graduates are sure to see their futures take them to “remarkable” places, said Rich.

“As you set out in your next steps, I hope you use these experiences, knowledge and the connections you’ve made to inform how you move through the world and make your communities a better place for all of us to live,” he said. “You’ve already achieved remarkable things, and I hope you use those achievements as a platform to build remarkable futures.”

Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ali Emami gave the address during the afternoon ceremony of Brock’s 116th Convocation on Friday, Oct. 18.

The idea of finding opportunity in uncertainty was echoed in Assistant Professor of Computer Science Ali Emami’s address during Friday’s afternoon ceremony.

Graduation often comes with a range of mixed emotions, he said. While there is joy, pride and excitement, the experience itself can also feel “anticlimactic” as graduates come to the realization that this chapter of their lives is over and begin to ponder what comes next.

Emami encouraged the newest Brock grads to reframe that uncertainty as anticipation — remembering that while this milestone is worth celebrating, it is only the first of many more to come.

To illustrate his point, Emami reflected on the personal health journey he began nearly eight years ago when he committed to running on the treadmill every day.

While some days were easier than others — and there were many times he admitted to wanting to throw in the towel — he never missed a run.

“I never skipped a day. No matter how ill I was, if it was a pandemic and I had to do it at home, how hard the day was, I continued,” he told the graduating class.

That determination soon trickled into every facet of his life — whether it was drafting an email or writing a research paper. He said his experience crystallizes that life is a journey, and he encouraged graduates to “fall in love with that, rather than the destination.”

“Today marks the end of your academic treadmill run and it was very hard; you’ve striven, you’ve toiled, heck, you’ve stumbled and fallen, but you’ve risen up and you’ve finished that run,” he said. “That sensation is not disappointment, it’s actually the best version of you that knows that you have so many more runs in you than just this one; I see thousands of runs for you.”

View recordings of the day’s Convocation ceremonies at brocku.ca/livestream