Two years ago we were told that our journey would begin at Harcum College. We came seeking knowledge and the skills needed to create fulfilling careers. We were not let down. Our professors inspired and challenged us throughout this quest to help us achieve our goals. Our family and friends stood behind us to offer support and encouragement. We worked hard to get where we are today. Residents and commuters alike, together we made it through a stream of midterms and finals, and here we are, down to this very last speech.

In the legacy of Edith Harcum, we came to realize our individual talents and refine our potential into a solid foundation for our future in the work force. Many of us learned not only the concept of gender equity, but also how to integrate this concept into our daily lives and function as a team, living as equals. We learned how to be interdependent in the social and academic structure, meeting our responsibilities head on meanwhile learning how to set pride aside and ask for the help of our peers and mentors.

In a time when our troops were off to war, we learned about human liberties and our need to fight for the freedom and equality of all people across ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Our view of the world expanded as we were given new outlooks from our international classmates.

We were offered the chance to give back to the people in our community through service and volunteerism. This is a quality that we will carry on with us through all phases of our adulthood.

If it is true that knowledge is power, and that we have an abundance of it waiting to be actualized, than we must ask what use is power unless it is used for the common good? We have a new opportunity to carry the Harcum torch into the world and set it ablaze with our passion for humanitarianism and equality.

This generation is ours and it is our time to use what we have learned for positive outcomes. We have the opportunity to educate our peers about diversity and to fight against violence and injustices. We will take the drive and determination from our time here transformed our futures, and we will bring forth the heart of our professors to shape the world the way that they worked to shape us. For today is not just the day that we graduate from Harcum College, it is the day that we graduate to a higher level of living.

Thank you and best wishes to the graduating class of 2003.