James Rada, Jr.
Emmitsburg News-Journal

(June, 2010) Commencement is over. The students have gone into the "real world" and the Mount St. Mary’s Class of 2010 now looks to fulfill its dreams.

"I don't fear failure, I fear complacency," graduate student Edward Krumpotich said during his remarks. "The Mount taught me that."

The Knott Arena was filled on May 16 with the family and friends of the 465 graduates and undergraduates who received their degrees during the 202nd commencement. It was also filled with many personal stories.

University faculty members presented their children with their degrees. Chris and Amy Jeffers, husband and wife, both received their degrees together. Jason Spitzer proposed to his fiancée just after she received her degree. Little Owl, a member of the Crow Nation in Montana, became the Native American graduate of the university.

"I know it can be hard in times of economic trouble when we tend to take care of only our own little space, but I hope that you will keep yourselves open to the entire world and all its peoples," commencement speaker Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services. "You can see so clearly, whether it’s on the internet or on the shelves of Wal-Mart or in the recent financial meltdown, that we are all more connected than ever. So feel that solidarity, particularly with people that you might think you have nothing in common with – a subsistence farmer in Niger, a coffee grower in Guatemala, an earthquake victim in Haiti, a homeless person in Baltimore or Washington. You will not regret it."

Despite the struggling economy, the graduates set forth on their journey in the world. Hackett didn’t promise them that it would be easy to secure work with their new degrees, but he did tell them if they, "Engage with the world in a meaningful way each and every day. If you do that, whether you win or lose, you will be victorious."

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