{"id":132669,"date":"2021-05-14T02:10:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T08:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=132669"},"modified":"2021-05-14T14:37:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T20:37:23","slug":"gwenyth-rosenkrantz-delivers-commencement-keynote-we-have-created-our-flashlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=132669","title":{"rendered":"Gwenyth Rosenkrantz delivers Commencement keynote: \u201cWe have created our flashlights.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Gwenyth Rosenkrantz, the recipient of the Class of 2021\u2019s Student Achievement Award and the first openly transgender student to receive the annual award, delivered the commencement address for May 14\u2019s virtual spring commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenkrantz is an improv performer, content creator, stand-up comedian and a member of the Chancellor\u2019s Leadership Class. In their keynote speech for the UCCS Class of 2021, Rosenkrantz likened the college experience to climbing a mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUCCS felt like a mountain that I needed to climb,\u201d they shared. \u201cStudents were hikers, trails were classes, and the peak served as a degree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gwenyth Rosenkrantz is graduating with a bachelor\u2019s degree in human services from the College of Education.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rosenkrantz, who is graduating with a bachelor\u2019s degree in human services from the College of Education, alluded to several degree changes they made in pursuit of deciding their future path. Ultimately, the work led Rosenkrantz to decide to blaze a trail for others \u2013 especially those facing difficulty in college \u2013 to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith no guide to aid me in my journey or to teach me how to interpret the map, I did a lot of wandering,\u201d they said. \u201cAs I hiked up the steep trail, I came to forks in the road, where I changed my degree and embarked on a new path many times. There were dead ends, places where the trail was overgrown, false summits and thunderstorms that came out of nowhere that caused me to slip and fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the moon began to rise above me and night covered the terrain, I couldn\u2019t see anymore. That\u2019s when I met my first flashlight person. They came running down the mountain to help me out when I was lost, and used their steady beam of light to guide me back to where I needed to be. \u2018Can I borrow that?\u2019 I asked. Instead, they gave me my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could have used the flashlight to keep progressing uphill towards my degree,\u201d Rosenkrantz concluded, \u201cbut instead I went backwards. I picked up the trash I\u2019d passed on the trail, I arranged rocks in the dirt to serve as warning signs, and I helped find other hikers who got lost as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Rosenkrantz told the graduates of the Class of 2021 that the skills they honed during their time at UCCS represent a flashlight that will light their way through even the darkest of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are now equipped with powerful skills of being able to conduct research, write persuasive arguments, and educate others so that we can make the branching and winding trails we come across in life more accessible and inclusive. These abilities create our flashlights,\u201d Rosenkrantz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we approach our mountains in life, we will shine light on the problems we come across and do the work to help fix them. We will be able to spot those who need help, and aid them back onto the trails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations on earning your flashlight,” Rosenkrantz told the newest members of the Class of 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rosenkrantz concluded, \u201cLook out onto the horizon at the top of your mountain and watch the sunset with the peace of understanding that you have the tools to face the coming twilight \u2013 and all of the nights to follow. Congratulations, Class of 2021, on earning your flashlight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenkrantz is one of a record-setting 1,624 graduates in UCCS\u2019 spring Class of 2021, the university\u2019s largest graduating class in history. The virtual commencement ceremonies took place beginning on Friday, May 14 at 1 p.m. Tune in online.<\/a> In addition, the May 17 Picture on the Plaza event will mark the first time in decades that UCCS offers an outdoor, on-campus graduation event. 570 graduates are signed up to walk down the pedestrian Spine, hear their names read and receive a diploma jacket and photos. Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formal 2021 commencement ceremony for spring graduates is available on-demand via YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gwenyth Rosenkrantz, the recipient of the Class of 2021\u2019s Student Achievement Award and the first openly transgender student to receive the annual award, likened the college experience to climbing a mountain. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":132718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82,42,139,332,63,60],"class_list":["post-132669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","tag-college-of-education","tag-commencement","tag-department-of-counseling-and-human-services","tag-more-news","tag-student-life","tag-student-success"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/680px-Communique-Images-88.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-yvP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132669"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132689,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132669\/revisions\/132689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/132718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}