BY ELIZABETH EDNIE
When Shannon Bursey first heard that auditions for student commencement speaker were coming up, she thought trying out would be the perfect way to finish off her Stonehill experience.
“As someone who enjoys writing and sharing it with others, it sounded like a fun challenge to make a speech that would summarize and celebrate the last four years. I also love performing, and thought that speaking at commencement would be a great memory to conclude my time here at Stonehill,” Bursey said.
The Stonehill Class of 2022 will celebrate commencement on Sunday, May 22, and will feature Bursey, who will serve as the student speaker to represent the class.
Bursey auditioned for the role of student speaker along with eight of her peers on April 21 and was chosen by committee members who are made up of faculty and students.
Bursey said she did not think she would be the one chosen out of the nine seniors who auditioned.
“When I got the call that I was chosen, I was, ironically, speechless. I just felt so honored and excited that they liked my speech and performance,” she said.
Nancy Dunsing, the Executive Assistant to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, sends an annual email to seniors requesting that they contact her if they wish to speak at graduation.
“I organize the selection committee which consists of faculty and senior class officers, create a schedule where each student will present their planned speech to the selection committee, and then notify the student who has been selected as the speaker,” Dunsing said.
Bursey said the speech had to be between three and five minutes long and had to meet several outlined criteria.
Dunsing said that it can be difficult to choose who will speak at graduation because they all put a lot of work into preparing their speech.
“There are times when you have two top finalists and a difficult decision must be made. The committee members will debate and discuss the likes of each speech, but the senior class officers will make the final decision. We always choose a runner-up in case the chosen speaker cannot fulfill the role for whatever reason,” she said.
Senior Fiona O’Brien was part of the committee to choose the student speaker and said she enjoyed the experience because she got to learn more about each person who auditioned for the role.
“It was amazing to see all the brave students who decided to write a speech for graduation and they had the confidence to write and speak it in front of a group of us,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said there was a rating process to help determine which student would be best for the job.
“Each speaker would come in and introduce themselves, then go on with their speech. All the speeches were so good and it was hard to pick the finalist,” she said.
Bursey said that she wants the senior class to all reflect on their own experiences at Stonehill while she delivers her speech at commencement.
“We’ve all grown since we first came to Stonehill. I hope that while you’re listening to my speech, you can be proud of how far you’ve come and look forward to the future ahead. But most importantly, I hope that you can sit back and take it all in; enjoy the present moment surrounded by friends, family, and the Stonehill community,” she said.
Photo courtesy of Stonehill College