Convocation 2024: Student Address by Jessica Sangalang

May 11, 2024, Vancouver, BC.

It is with deep gratitude that I share this moment with all of you: those of you who have journeyed with who we celebrate today, as well as the remarkable individuals I have the honour of representing – the Class of 2024.

Dear Graduates, as I look across this room I am filled with joy and confidence. Joy in the victories (and hardships) that have brought us to this moment, but above all, confidence in the people we’ve become as we step into the next chapter of our academics and careers.

But this success is not solely our own. Once more, I look across this room as a testament to this reality. Formed by community, today’s milestone testifies to the support we’ve received and the relationships we’ve formed during our time at the Colleges. Reflecting on my time as a student at Corpus Christi-St. Mark’s, I recognize that the journey to today is not simply a series of consecutive achievements, rather it is about the values that have shaped us.

Pope Francis shares, “An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it”. This is St. Mark’s-Corpus Christi College: an enmeshment of service, purpose and solidarity with higher education animated by faith.

Whether it was…
● A thoughtful comment from your professor on your assignment
● A visit to the Student Resource Centre
● Several appointments with advising or your faculty advisor
● Weekday Mass and visits to the chapel between classes
● A spirited and memorable class debate
● Friday evenings at the Door is Open
● Or karaoke and a pancake breakfast at Plato’s Cave

Called by name in each of these little moments at the Colleges, we felt seen, heard and cared for. Even before being admitted as students, we were known as persons by recruitment and enrollment.

Unique about the Colleges is this opportunity for one-to-one interactions with our peers, professors, staff, and the communities we serve that have challenged us to think beyond ourselves, nurtured our desire to create meaningful change in the world and empowered us to take action now. All that starts with affirming the humanity of each individual we encounter, just as we have experienced here at St. Mark’s-Corpus Christi.

Dear families and friends, thank you for showing us what it means to love and to be loved.
Dear staff and faculty, thank you for modelling what it means to be lifelong learners.
We graduate with greater confidence in ourselves and a deeper appreciation for our education – an education aimed at developing the whole person in their pursuit of truth.
Dear donors and friends of the Colleges, thank you for believing in our students. But more importantly, thank you for believing in our dreams.

Finally, dear Graduates, thank you for your fellowship, accountability and your tireless work poured into your programs. Just as much as we have been transformed and renewed by the school, you also leave behind a unique legacy of your own. Today we celebrate the fruits of our labour.
Here we’ve discovered service to others is not to be sacrificed for learning; on the contrary, service and learning, alongside faith and reason, are intertwined. As we go forth to answer our next callings, let us remain steadfast and fearless in our commitment to leaving this earth better than we found it.

Congratulations, Graduates of 2024. Just as it has brought us here to this moment, together let us continue onwards on mission and upwards with passion! And with that, may God be praised.