A Graduate Shares Journey from Kosovo to the University of New Haven

Unique. Nurturing. Home. (UNH)- Three words. Three letters that represent more than the name of our university. They represent the place that has shaped us, challenged us, and most importantly, allowed us to become who we always wanted and were meant to be.

Four years ago, I stepped onto this campus as a young girl from a very small village in Kosovo, carrying big dreams. I dreamed of science, of discovery, and of course, of one day contributing to my home country and to the world — a world I had barely begun to understand. But like many of you, once I started, I was afraid. Afraid of failing, of being far away from home, and sometimes of even being too small for the dreams I carried. Yet, as I stand in front of you today, I know that fear was never mine to hold. Because the University of New Haven, this home, turned those fears into strength and resilience to achieve any dream I set my mind to.

Dear students, University leaders, professors, families, and friends, thank you for being here today to celebrate with us, the Class of 2025. This day is not just about earning a degree. It is about the weight of every late-night study session, every failure that became a lesson, every moment when we doubted ourselves but chose not to give up anyway. It is about the community that turned into family, the professors who saw in us what we could not yet see in ourselves, and the persistence that brought us to this very moment.

Each of us has a story, a battle fought in silence, a struggle that shaped us long before any degree or title ever will. So, before we are scholars, scientists, or leaders, we are something deeper: human beings shaped by challenge, strengthened by experience, and guided by empathy. This university has not only prepared us academically, but it taught us something more important: the power of human values. It has taught us what it means to lift each other, to care deeply, and to leave a place better than we found it.

As I reflect on my time here, I see my footprints across this campus as a Resident Assistant, a Learning Assistant, and an International Student Advisor. In every role, I found a way to give back to this community the same support it poured into me. Now, as I prepare to continue my Ph.D. journey in cancer research, I carry with me not just knowledge but also responsibility. A responsibility to fight for those whose voices are unheard. A commitment to carry the momentum for change.

But this is not just my story. It is the story of all of us. Because for every one of us who sits here today, there is someone out there, perhaps another girl, another dreamer with the same passion to change the world, but who may never get the privilege of education, who may never know what it feels like to walk across a graduation stage, how it feels to have a graduation cap on their head, or the emotion of hearing their name called in a Commencement celebration. We owe it to every person who has ever been told they are not allowed to dream, to make the most of what we have been given, and to create more opportunities for them as the next generation.

Let me leave you with one more message: Be grateful. Be relentless and resilient. In the end, our legacy will not be written only in the titles we earn or the careers we build, but in the lives we touch, in the people we lift, and most importantly, in the kind actions we leave behind.

At the beginning, I described UNH as standing for Unique, Nurturing, Home. That was for our time here, until this moment. But if I use these three letters to talk to our future selves, a future devoted to science, ambition, and the strength of a human with vision, then, in your mind, let UNH stand for: Unyielding, Never-ending, Hope.

Unyielding in your pursuit of knowledge and in your determination to shape the world.
Never-ending in your curiosity, your growth, and your contributions to society.
Hope, because no discovery, breakthrough, or revolution in history has ever begun without hope.

Congratulations, Class of 2025. The world is waiting. Let’s show it who we are.

Thank you. Go Chargers!

Esma Fera ’25, a cellular and molecular and biology major, was a finalist to serve as a student speaker at Commencement. The content above is based on the speech she delivered as part of the competitive process to select the student Commencement speakers.