Congratulations, SMBHC Class of 2022!
The 2022 Honors Commissioning Ceremony took place on Wednesday, May 4th, at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Ajah Singleton welcomed everyone, Ian Pigg delivered the address, and Taylor Thompson gave the charge. Rachel Hammond served as our 2022 Class Marshal. Over 80 photos are available to view on the SMBHC Facebook page.
(L-R) Ajah Singleton, Rachel Hammond, Taylor Thompson, and Ian Pigg. (Photo by Jennifer Parsons)
Ajah Singleton’s Welcome
I would like to welcome faculty, staff, family, friends, and our 2022 graduates as we celebrate our accomplishments and reflect on the journey we have been on these past four years.
If you told me that my diploma would be partially sponsored by Zoom, I wouldn’t have believed you. But we have persevered, and I am so grateful to see you all here today.
We have worked hard, sacrificed, cried, poured our hearts out for our theses, and it has all led to us sitting together on a Wednesday night as we prepare to say goodbye and say hello to another chapter in our lives.
I have seen so many of you do remarkable things and important work that will impact the lives of so many. For some of us that means that our jobs have just begun, and for others that means that there is a new problem that needs to be solved. I hope that you have found something worth fighting for and that you still feel as passionate about it for the years to come as you do right now.
As we begin to leave Oxford and the University, I hope that you have had life changing experiences that have made you better scholars, but more importantly better people.
Ian Pigg’s Address
To all the present Senior Administration, to Dr. Scurlock and the SMBHC faculty and staff, to my fellow graduates, family, and friends – good evening. I’m so glad to be standing before you tonight.
Family and friends, thank you for being here tonight to celebrate our graduating class. There is no limit to the amount of talent, grit, and determination that is present on the floor of the Pavilion tonight – there are servant leaders, academic powerhouses, athletes, national scholarship recipients, and just good people. I could talk for hours about the caliber of this class.
Two years ago, when the COVID-19 Pandemic reared its head and kept us from finishing our academic year, DSG sent us an email detailing where the Honors College would go from there. Near the end of the email, he left us with this:
Cambridge professors sent the young twenty-one-year old, Isaac Newton, home when the Great Plague of London hit in 1665, and he accomplished some of his most wonderful work there. He called that time his annus mirabilis, the “year of wonders.”
Make this moment one of ‘wonders.’
That had a huge impact on me in the midst of so much turmoil. I know it had a huge impact on all of you, too, based on the amount of Instagram stories I saw with the screenshot of that email. I believe this class, the class of 2022, has lived up to that challenge – these four years have been our years of wonders. In our years of wonders, we may not have theorized the laws of gravity, but we made a difference. As a class, we have traveled the world in search of more knowledge, we won national acclaim, we started businesses, we worked in nonprofits, and we never let setbacks distract us from our goals and dreams.
We have been able to have our years of wonders for the past four years because of the comfortable, supportive community that the Honors College has afforded us. When we stepped onto campus four years ago, I’m sure we had no idea that the Honors College would become a home. And that’s what it is – a home, for all of us in different ways. For some, home was Pittman Hall freshman year where we all lived with hundreds of our best friends. I’m sure we all remember the moments we spent together on the best night of the year, Honors College Formal, in the Halls of Pittman with our CAs cheering us on. For some, home was the Great Room, where everyone did a lot more talking than studying. For some other poor, slightly dramatic souls, Home was the Dungeon – I don’t know what y’all did down there for so many hours, but I hope it paid off. For all of us though, Home was found in the people who surrounded us in our dorms, our honors class, and in the study rooms during midterms and finals. These are the people who we traveled across the country with to answer the question, “What should we remember?” These are the strangers who sat next to us in our Honors 101 and 102 classes, and these strangers became the best friends who attended our thesis defenses and accidentally asked us harder questions than our committee. Home has become the people we have met along the way.
The end that we have all been dreading is here, and if you’re anything like me, you almost can’t bear it. As any good Ole Miss Student would, I quote Faulkner in As I Lay Dying: “How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.” I know we will all have those moments of thinking of and wishing for home in Oxford. I take solace in this fact, though: we can take this Home, and the lessons we’ve learned, with us as we step out into the world. I know that we will continue to be fired by the life of the mind, committed to the public good, and driven to find solutions in whatever arena we find ourselves in. I know that the people sitting to our right and to our left tonight will continue to push us and support us throughout our next adventures. That much I’m certain of.
This is my hope: that we will continue to have our years of wonders, that we will all stay connected to each other and this place, and that we will all return Home just as often as we can. I have been so blessed to know and learn from you all. Thank you for everything. Hotty Toddy!
Taylor Thompson’s Charge
Good evening everyone! Class of 2022, I am so thankful that so many friends and family members have come out to support all of us, but this speech is going to be for you.
It’s been said that there is no such thing as an original idea, so tonight, I’m going to charge you with something you’ve heard a thousand times. But my intention is that from now on, you will have a new perspective on it. Today, I charge you to appreciate the small moments that set your soul on fire.
When we sat together to share a meal in the grove during welcome week, I could feel the electricity in the air. I knew that so many people here would achieve incredible things. I also dreamt those things for myself. I listened to my professors and guest speakers tell us how to reach our goals, how we should make a roadmap for our success so that we can achieve them.
However, something I don’t remember being told was that the most momentous moments in my life would not be the most important ones. Through heartbreaking failure and life-changing success, I’ve come to realize that my favorite moments are the small ones that I barely remember, ones that I so desperately wish I could replicate. Something we don’t do enough is recognize that the small moments, the heartbreaking moments, and the impossible moments should not be forgotten, they should be embraced.
One of my favorite Brené Brown quotes is, “The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.” With that in mind, and I don’t mean to sound like a cheesy watercolor Instagram graphic telling you to enjoy the little things in life, but I think most times, we don’t actually understand what that means. We don’t accept the gravity of our biggest accomplishments because we don’t take the time to appreciate the gravity of the smaller moments that actually shape us.
We cannot always rely on our biggest accomplishments to bring us sustainable joy, so maybe we need to create our own small pockets of joy in life. I want you all to think of at least one small pocket of joy you’ve created yourself here. Maybe it’s getting coffee with the friends you ate lunch with after Honors 101 freshman year. Maybe it’s going to South Depot after every home game. Maybe it’s deciding to sit by the koi pond or on the patio to study for your last final exam ever.
But if you need some help with creating those pockets of joy, I have something for you. I charge you to do all of these things over the next year:
First, on a day when you’re extremely stressed, wake up to the sunrise and take a walk by yourself. Watch how the sun rises slowly and then all of a sudden, the sky changes colors. Do it the next morning. This time, listen to the sound of your feet hitting the ground. Observe everything around you through the lens of someone who blindly sees beauty in everything.
Second, go eat lunch by yourself in a restaurant a few times. Don’t bring your laptop or a book, and don’t spend the whole time on your phone. You need to become comfortable with yourself and your own company. You’re forced to observe others and understand that the world doesn’t revolve around you, so the world won’t end if you have to readjust a plan.
Lastly, find three other people to surround yourself with that make you a better person. I wholeheartedly believe that you are the sum of the three people you are closest to, so make sure that those are good people. And make sure you’re one of them. Visit your small town businesses and get to know the people you see everyday. Because every person has an interesting story, and you would never know if it could change your life if you don’t listen to it. So ask people questions about themselves and actually care about the answer.
Above all, I charge you to continue caring about your happiness and to continue being curious without judgement. Remember your professors’ voices asking you why you believe something. Most of all, love yourself and be proud of every small thing you accomplish in your time on earth, because sometimes, the small things are harder to live through than the big things.
Be proud of yourself because you have proven to yourself that you have learned to your fullest extent, proudly expressed your beliefs, found your deepest passions, and cared for others with empathy and dignity. And if you haven’t done that, do it now. When we were accepted to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, we were charged to be citizen scholars who are fired by the life of the mind, committed to the public good, and driven to find solutions. We carry the legacy of our honors education by continuing to find what motivates our mind, serving others selflessly, and finding solutions to new problems we face.
So as I say goodbye to each of you this evening, I ask you for one more favor. Be proud of your accomplishments because you are proud of the person you will become, a person who is wise, patient, and resilient. Be proud because the darkness defines your bright moments, it doesn’t diminish them. Be proud because you realize that the biggest moments in your life are actually the small ones and that they will not yell at you to remember them. They will not force you to celebrate them. Instead, your biggest moments will be the small ones, the ones that flutter by in a split second. The moments that are the map from you to your soul. Thank you, and congratulations friends.