Messages from your classmates:

Dear Class of 2023,

When I first came to CSUF, I remember the first couple days most of us struggled to find our classes. Even when I came a couple days early to scout out the campus, the campus was still a forest to me. My first semester was surprisingly challenging. It was mainly due to the fact of taking Calculus 2 as a freshman entering college. Those first couple lectures were the fastest lectures I had ever experienced in my life. I even sent an email to the professor asking him to slow down. He emailed me back with a lo ng reason as to why he couldn’t slow down and that if I couldn’t handle it, then I should change classes. Well, I didn’t like that at all. So instead of quitting I wanted to prove to this professor that I was good enough. That even as a freshman in college , I wouldn’t take no for an answer. From then on, I worked so hard to do well in that class. I think the professor finally knew I meant business after the second exam. He walked up to me, handing me my exam facedown, and whispered to me, “I tried to find an error, but I couldn’t find one.” From then on, I kept working at it, and ended up doing super well in that class. To this day, that professor and I, still remain in contact.

After that semester finished up, I thought I would have had an easier load, and boy was I wrong. The next semester's course work wasn’t particularly hard except my major courses (CS), but what was actually difficult was staying at school for such a long period of time. Some days, my classes went from 8:00 in the morning to 6:00 at night with large gaps in between. Let me tell you, when you aren’t used to class later in the day, it really becomes difficult to stay awake. I can’t help but feel slightly bad for my Spanish teacher, because I couldn’t give him my all during class. Then when things couldn’t get any worse, COVID -19 flipped the whole world upside down. From there everything changed. We had to embrace a whole new set of challenges while relieving others. Probably one of the funnier challenges was to not forget to turn your mic off after speaking. There was this one time in class that I forgot to turn it off and I started to cuss about how hard the exam was. Other students heard me and were kind enough to let me know my mic was on, but the professor didn’t seem to hear it. I swear that moment still makes me laugh to this day.

And then we returned to campus trying our best to get things back up and running like they used to be. I want to say that this was where I really tried to enjoy my college experience by finding ways to interact with others. This was when I decided to join ACM CSUF, the largest Computer Science club on campus. In that club I have made friends as well as learned many, many, many things. It was a breath of fresh air to finally interact with others instead of staying locked in my room all day because I was studying too hard.

I guess what I am trying to say is that this chapter in my life has had its ups and downs. And I am guessing that yours has too. We’ve all had those difficult classes and formidable professors, we’ve all had those embarrassing and funny moments, we’ve all had those COVID struggles, and we’ve all had those good times. This chapter in our lives has come to an end. As Winnie the

Pooh would say: “Only look back to see how far you’ve come.” You’ve mad e it through so many things and that’s something to be proud of!

And now that we are entering our next chapter, I thought I'd offer some advice.

1) My Siti (Grandma) used to always say: "Make it a nice day." For some that might seem like toxic positivity, but I don't really see that at all. No matter how your day goes, it plays a part in your character development. In all stories, there is conflict, and that conflict forms and makes you a better person. Embrace and be grateful for the suffering because when you are grateful for it you recognize that something in you is changing. In other words, making it a nice day simply means to be grateful for the day, no matter how it goes, for it is a part of your story and plays a part in who you are.

2) Your greatest rival is yourself. In all stories, the main character has a rival and it's good to have others to compete with. So long as you don't forget that your greatest competition is who you were yesterday. Do you know why? The reason is surprisingly simple, yourself yesterday, is the fairest competition you'll ever have. Imagine you are racing someone who is exactly the same as you, but the only difference between you and them is that you can get better, but they can only remain consistent. It seems like a pretty fair race to me.

3) Regarding your career: Never let anyone tell you what you can't do. If you want to be an actor, be an actor. If you want to write, write! If you want to be a traveling game show host, be a game show host. A lot of us here have gotten our degrees and may one day be in a field where we don't use them. And that's okay. Sometimes our degree is a stepping stone for what we really want. Just make sure that whatever you do, it inspires you and it inspires others.

Well graduates, it was a pleasure writing this message to you. Some of you may walk away with nothing from this message and others may walk away with a lot. And others may walk away wondering if this message was generated by ChatGPT.

I hope that I will not be the first to say this to you, but my sincerest congratulations to you and your loved ones. I am so very proud of you!

Thanks for coming, With so much love, Joseph Nasr