Speech : graduation day

MY COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

President Brown, members of the Yale faculty, teachers, parents, friends and most importantly, the class of 2056, congratulations.

I am deeply honored to be a part of this wonderful celebration.

I’ve always believed in second chances, and being here today, 32 years after my graduation day really feels like one.

Today, I feel recognized and listened to. But at the time I was just a graduate, a girl, but not a woman yet. I became a woman on my own, learning from my mistakes.

Today, I wanted to tell you about one of the most important global pandemics of the 21st century, Covid-19. I know what you may be thinking right now: “Oh yeah Covid-19, I remember, it’s the 10th chapter of our history book”. But it’s much more than that.

The virus first appeared on November 16, 2019 in China and yet, 5 years later, during my graduation year, we were still in the middle of it. All the vaccines so far designed had proved ineffective and the virus persisted.

In 2025, my mother, who was in perfect health caught it and a few weeks later, passed away. After that, I felt like my whole world had collapsed and I even got fired from the lab where I used to work.

It felt like I’ve been abandoned on an island, with nothing else around me but grief. But I found myself, alone on this island and I came to the realization that I wasn’t the only one going through this and rather than feeling sorry for myself, I decided I wanted to try to help the entire world move forward.

I looked for a job in a laboratory specialized in the search for a vaccine against Covid.

Despite all the feelings of pressure to start over in an unfamiliar environment, or the confusion and uncertainty in where to go next, the team I was leading and I finally came up with an effective vaccine, BITQVaccine (because I’m the queen).

When I take a look at my past, I realize that some things may have only been possible because I had found myself alone on this island. I couldn't go any lower, I could only go forward.

So I hope that from now on, you will all try your best not to worry about things you can’t control and focus on what you can change.

Thank you.

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