UBalt Marks Graduates’ ‘Mountaintop Moment’
Elizabeth Etouke left behind a failed marriage and career in Cameroon to come to America for a chance at a better life.
She was 7 months pregnant and had a 6-year-old daughter but no home to call her own. She knew she was starting at the bottom of an uphill battle, but she was ready.
“Everything around me was screaming failure, but despite being scared about the unknown of this new country, I was excited about being here because I knew it was an opportunity to turn my life around,” Etouke said, sharing her story from an illuminated podium on The Lyric Baltimore stage as the selected graduate student speaker for UBalt’s May 22 commencement ceremonies.
"I didn't know how, but I knew that things could not be worse than they were already, so I was determined to do my best to live up to my full potential this time."
She more than met her goals, going on to earn her associate and bachelor’s degrees and now, a Master of Public Administration degree from The University of Baltimore. She found her first full-time job while at UBalt, and now plans to return to UBalt for a Doctor of Public Administration.
"Now do you understand why I'm saying that my time at UBalt has been terrific? Great classes, I landed two jobs, I received many program exposures, and the best part of it is that I found myself," she said. "This University, the University of Baltimore, it may seem like a typical school system, but it is much more than it. It is a launching pad for students to reach greater heights in life."
Mahsa “Jasmine” Hessami represented the undergraduate graduating class with her own inspirational speech.
Hessami, who earned her B.S. in Health Management, shared that not long ago she had planned to skip the commencement ceremony. But in the days between then and her moment on the stage, she had an emotional conversation with her dad that changed her mind.
The conversation, like her story, traces to 1979 when her father and uncle fled Iran for a chance to attend a university.
“He reminded me that he had attended all of his higher-level graduations. He told me, ‘I didn't do it for myself. I did it for our mom, to honor her and all the sacrifices she had made for us. This is a big accomplishment, and you have done it successfully, in spite of the hardships that you face. This is an honor, and you should celebrate it.’”
It was the motivation that not only encouraged her to attend her own commencement, but to apply as speaker as well.
The latter decision gave her the opportunity to share what she learned as one final lesson for the graduating class.
“The truth is, we are all here as representatives of something greater than ourselves,” she said. “We are here to pay tribute to the adversities we've overcome and the hope of success that we have on the horizon.”
Service Bridges Divides
Service and perseverance were the themes of the University of Baltimore’s spring commencement.
Regent Robert Hur from the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents lauded UBalt’s commitment to and leadership in impactful service.
“UBalt’s numerous partnerships with both state and local government are cultivating the next generation of public service and civic engagement.”
The keynote speaker, Paul Monteiro Jr., secretary for Maryland’s Department of Service and Civic Innovation, built on the idea of UBalt’s commitment to service in his address.
Service, he shared, has shaped his life. His grandparents met when his grandfather was in Micronesia through the Peace Corps. His immediate family relied on service when he was growing up in Prince George’s County.
“We grew up in a community that was in some ways low in income, but rich in empathy: amazing public school teachers, a robust safety social safety net before I knew what a social safety net was, free/reduced lunch programs, faith-based organizations that helped me and my siblings navigate and pursue dreams beyond what I could see.”
What he saw others do stuck with him and led him to a life in service that included an appointment as national director of AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) under President Barack Obama and a nomination as director of the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service under President Joe Biden. Monteiro also served on Obama’s White House staff as associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. In 2023, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (who gave UBalt's fall 2023 keynote address) nominated Monteiro to serve as the state’s first secretary of service and civic innovation.
Monteiro told the graduates that one of the most powerful attributes about service is that it bridges all divides.
“Think about it,” he said. “When you see a part that needs to be cleaned up a family that needs a box of food, a young person that needs help learning how to read or write or figure out math. They don't usually ask who you voted for. They don't ask what party you're part of. They don't ask what your prescription is for the national debt over the state's structural deficit. They're very few things left in our society, where people don't check your credentials before they do something good, and that is the power and stickiness of service.”
Monteiro celebrated the public good already happening at the University, including through its 50 in 5 effort, which encouraged 50 hours of community service in five months, and the NextGen Leaders for Public Service, a program based in the Schaefer Center for Public Policy that includes paid internship experiences for students at various governments, nonprofits and organizations.
Monteiro also gave graduates advice. He noted that while his biography only shows the highlights of his career, he, too, experienced low moments. He encouraged the graduates to appreciate the lessons those hard times offer.
“Mountaintop moments like today are worth celebrating because you know the valleys that led to today and there were some valleys. … Failure and loss and those valleys can be the most effective teachers.”
Joining the UBalt Alumni Family
In his opening remarks, UBalt President Kurt L. Schmoke celebrated the graduates for their life-changing achievement. He wanted to acknowledge their milestone as well as the people that got them to it.
Schmoke called for a brief interruption in both ceremonies. He asked the graduates to stand and turn toward the audience of family, friends in gratitude. With waves, blown kisses and in some cases, funny faces, the graduates showed their appreciation to their top fans.
Schmoke acknowledged this graduating class’s moment in UBalt’s history. They are the last graduating class of the University’s first century.
“Every year I find myself extolling the virtues of our graduates by talking about the many challenges they have overcome. But I'd like to switch up a bit by describing the important life legacy that you and only you will carry for the rest of your lives. You made history simply by being at UBalt when it was on the verge of its 100th year of service,” he said. … “We're proud to declare you an essential part of the University story, past, present and future, we will forever be inspired by this mighty spirit of the class of spring 2024.”
He encouraged the graduates, now part of the alumni network, to remain part of the University community, for the 2025 centennial celebrations and beyond.
More Mountaintop Moments
Read about more 2024 graduates:
Mom graduates with twin daughters
Graduates aged 60 and older celebrate long-awaited degrees
Watch the full ceremonies: