Valedictorian's advice

By Jessica Cassella

As a graduating senior and the Class of 2011 Valedictorian, I have recently gotten a lot of questions about my Santa Clara University experience. What will I miss most about Santa Clara? What had the biggest impact on me during my time at Santa Clara?

It is bittersweet to reflect because Santa Clara has been my home for these past 4 years, but I know it has prepared me for whatever comes my way in the future.

I will miss the variety of classes available to me to learn about a wide variety of issues. I will miss my professors who have gotten to know me, challenged me, and whose passion and knowledge have helped me develop my own passion. I will miss the friendships that I have made here, but I know that they will last a lifetime. I will miss Graham — my home as both a resident and a community facilitator, which, after this quarter, will never be the same again. I will miss cheering my lungs out at Bronco sporting events. But perhaps most of all, I will miss the opportunities that I have had to challenge myself as well as those around me through my experience in the Multicultural Center.

My most rewarding experience at Santa Clara University has been joining the Multicultural Center as a white female. I didn't end up joining until my junior year, but it was definitely one of the best decisions I ever made.

I remember walking by the MCC everyday on my way to Benson and wanting to go in and join something, but I didn't know what I would join or what I would do when I walked in. I had never really engaged in serious discussions about race, and I didn't know anyone who was actively involved in the MCC. I didn't think that the issues that the MCC dealt with were relevant to my life, but something about it intrigued me.

During the winter quarter of my junior year, I overheard one of my friends talking about hosting a conference to discuss current issues of racism and marginalization at Santa Clara. I saw this as a perfect opportunity for me to get involved with the MCC, and we ended up planning and hosting a great dialogue with students, faculty, and staff.

During the planning process, I spent a lot of time meeting new people, and just being in the MCC provided me an opportunity to get out of my own bubble and experience this school from different perspectives.

I know that I still have a lot to learn, but I think that I have gained the capacity and mindset to learn about other perspectives by being open and listening to others. I strongly believe that it is important to reflect on how far you have come and how much you have grown, but it is even more important to realize how much more you have to learn.

It didn't take long before I felt accepted in that space, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a great community. This experience has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career because of the ways it has challenged me to view my own community from different perspectives.

I challenge you all to put yourself outside your own bubble and find these other perspectives because I think the greatest threat to Santa Clara is this "bubble." If we do not recognize that there are other people who lead lives very different from our own, we will not be able to connect with others.

It takes more than an abstract awareness that there are other perspectives out there to make a difference; change starts with actively listening.

We must recognize that the fact that we are at this university places us in a privileged position in society. The mere fact that we are able to receive a college education places us in the top 3 percent of the world.

So what are you going to do with this? What difference will you make? What will you carry with you as you progress?

Find out what you are passionate about, embrace it, continue to challenge yourself, and you will get so much more out of your Santa Clara education.

Jessie Cassella is a senior political science major and English minor.