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As the student speaker at Commencement 2023, Chelsea D. Brown ’23 shared a video looking back on the past four years of growth and transformation and an emotional speech reflecting on the loss of her mother during her first year at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ.

Referencing “In the Midst of It All,” a song by Yolanda Adams, Brown painted a picture of how she and so many others in the Class of 2023 have persevered to become the resilient individuals they are today. “In the midst of it all, you will have help to make it through,” she quoted from the song, echoing words of encouragement her mother offered as she left Miami for ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ four years ago.

“We stood side by side to lift each other up when we saw that one was about to fall. Our ability to overcome the obstacles that we faced during our four years is what makes us Orange. Through the midst of it all, we became our mothers’ wildest dreams,” Brown said. “To the Class of 2023, as you begin to move out of—or back into—your mothers’ houses, I ask you to take a moment to look around you. These are the faces that will stand beside you as you become the next pioneers, innovators and changemakers.”

Brown is a television, radio and film major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, a citizenship and civic engagement major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, a University Scholar and Posse Scholar. She was selected to address the Class of 2023 by her peers.