{"id":5584,"date":"2026-05-28T09:39:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeport.edu\/news\/?p=5584"},"modified":"2026-05-28T10:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:04:09","slug":"student-speakers-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeport.edu\/news\/student-speakers-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Student Speakers Who Represented UB\u2019s Class of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

At UB\u2019s 116th Commencement ceremonies on May 2, 2026, two graduates were selected to represent the Class of 2026 through student addresses to their classes: undergraduate speaker Ananda Lailah Lindsey and graduate speaker Sebastian Alix-Trabucco.<\/p>\n

Their speeches captured the shared feelings of the day. Read on to learn more about each speech and the messages of resilience, belonging, and courage they shared with their fellow graduates.<\/p>\n

Ananda Lailah Lindsey: \u201cWe didn\u2019t just survive college. We evolved through it.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Ananda Lailah Lindsey represented the undergraduate Class of 2026, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Health Science<\/a> and a minor in Pre-Medicine.<\/p>\n

During her time at UB, Lindsey was a highly engaged campus leader, serving as president of the Beta Iota Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., president of Future Leaders of Hip Hop, and president of the Student Programming Board. She also served on executive boards across campus.<\/p>\n

In her Commencement address, Lindsey spoke candidly about the reality behind the highlight reel of college life. She arrived at UB as a Pre-Nursing major with a plan she had been carrying since sixth grade, and then, as she put it, college humbled her. She switched her major to Health Science. Around the same time, her great-grandmother became ill and passed away at the start of the spring semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrief doesn\u2019t check your syllabus,\u201d she told her classmates. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t care about your GPA. It definitely doesn\u2019t pause because you have a practical lab the very next day.\u201d<\/p>\n

She honored the full experience that followed: the late nights, the changed majors, the retaken exams, the heartbreaks, the mental health struggles, and the moments of doubt \u2014 and the people who helped make it possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollege is not just about the highs,\u201d she said. \u201cFor every accomplishment, there was exhaustion. For every leadership title, there were tears. For every \u2018you\u2019re doing amazing,\u2019 there was a quiet moment of \u2018I don\u2019t know if I can keep doing this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t just survive college,\u201d she said. \u201cWe evolved through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She closed by encouraging her classmates never to sell themselves short, never stop striving, and never stop reaching beyond the stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything you prayed for might already be within your reach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

View the undergraduate student commencement speech:<\/h3>\n