CRIMSONMARIPOSA: Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2010 Emory Commencement Address

When Emory made the announcement back in late March that California's Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to give the 2010 Emory Commencement Speech, I was very disheartened and disappointed in Emory's selection. I was not the only one who was upset about this; many of my other colleagues and friends felt the same way, especially those who were from California. We wanted to know who was on the selection committee and who was on the list of probably speakers. But of course there was no way for them nor me to get that top secret information.

As the time for graduation drew near, I debated back and forth several times about attending the Commencement ceremony that morning, or just opting to only participate in my school's (Rollins School of Public Health) Degree Ceremony. After contemplating over this issue, I decided, "hey you only graduate once from the Public Health program, might as well make the most for my 2 years of hard work at Rollins!"

With all this being said, I was in no way disappointed in the Governator himself. His speech did impress me, and it was funny and inspiring -- key elements to a good commencement speech. I am glad that I chose to attend the commencement exercises with my other fellow graduates, friends and colleagues of Emory!