Jackson State University held its 139th Commencement Exercise April 23, at Veterans Memorial Stadium. It was indeed a historical moment, not only for Jackson State University, but for the state of Mississippi as a whole because for the first time a sitting First Lady of the United States would deliver a speech for the JSU graduating class.
I had the privilege to be a part of that history that day, which stands to be one of the joyous moments of my life. To be able to hear the First Lady of the United States of America deliver a speech for my graduating class was very empowering. Her delivery was phenomenal, and she spoke with such elegance and class.
During her commencement address Obama reminded the state of Mississippi about the history of the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium and informed guests about the overall struggles the state of Mississippi once endured, not only being boycotted against coming to their games, but not being allowed to play within that stadium due to the color of their skin.
It was at that point that I realized how far people of African-American decent have come, to not being allowed anywhere near the stadium, to now playing football games and enjoying a graduation ceremony within the stadium.
As a graduating senior it felt great to finally accomplish the goal that I set out to complete on my first day attending school on Aug. 25, 2012, and I was elated to finally have the opportunity to graduate with a graduating class that will go down in history, not only because Michelle Obama was our commencement ceremony, but as a graduating class that raised the stakes for the institution and that will be remembered for all of its good merits.
I was able to make history as well, being selected as one of the first Marshalls for the ‘newly founded’ School of Journalism and Media Studies at JSU. It was a great honor to represent one out of seven of the departmental colleges/schools as one of the Student Marshalls. It was at that point I felt accomplished. All of my hard dedication, determination and diligence had finally paid off and it was a sigh of relief, yet an overwhelming moment because I knew that I was about to leave a wonderful institution where I shared so many great moments and memories.
Overall, the 2016 JSU graduation was a great success and it is a day that I will cherish for a lifetime.
When I first entered Jackson State University, I was not certain if I could excel to my full potential and handle the responsibility of being a college student, but I proved myself wrong. Not only did I graduate, but I graduated with style and class and I am proud of myself.
Moving toward the future, I will be relocating to Houston, Texas to pursue a master’s degree in public relations at the University of Houston. I plan to continue to build a brand for myself and work toward owning my own company, Cory Davis Public Relations and Marketing.
I will continue to move forward in life and abide by one of my favorite philosophy quotes, “Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism leads to power.”
Cory L. Davis is a Spring 2016 graduate of Jackson State University. He can be reached at coryd1031@gmail.com.
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