Naomi Amadei: Live your unique journey

Hello to graduates, family, faculty, administration, and to everyone who came out to support ECC’s graduating class of ‘25. My name is Naomi. I am graduating from ECC’s nursing program, though you may not recognize me because I am usually wearing two pairs of pants and three sweatshirts because I am always cold inside this building or you might recognize me from the whiteboards I leave filled top to bottom with unreadable handwriting. Sorry to anyone who has had to erase all that! (I'm just superstitious that it will help me ace my test!)

So to begin, raise your hand if you knew you would cross this stage and graduate… Wow, thank you, I love seeing this many hands. But I have a secret to share: I never thought I would get to this moment.

Before coming to ECC, I studied at a private four-year university, a school I had worked so hard to get into. But after 3 years, my advisor told me I would never get anywhere with my degree, and with that, I felt lost, alone, and hopeless. So much so that even with all that work, I dropped out with only one year left to go. What followed was one of the hardest periods of my life. I thought I failed my friends, my family, and this idealized version of myself.

I carried this weight of my own perceived failure like a ball and chain. I was a prisoner of the narrative I had written in my head. Jailed myself to the what ifs, the should ofs, the people I idealized. I compared everyone’s successes to my failures. How would I amount to anything when I was so behind?

But then, I received a flyer in the mail from ECC and thought, just do something. I carried these thoughts and feelings with me, all the way in the sweltering heat to an 8 am summer session of Bio 110. Sitting in the classroom, freezing on the tiny lab stools, I promptly thought, What in the world am I doing here, (minus some colorful expletives I will not repeat here.) This same thought is currently circling in my mind at this very moment, speaking to you all. What in the world am I doing?

Even though I started my journey at ECC as a prisoner to my thoughts, something began to shift. The hope of change started to uplift me. It was during my time here at ECC, where I forged the greatest of friendships (friends who I am able to laugh and cry with), met professors who challenged my thinking (and also made me curse their names at 3 am in the morning before a particularly difficult test), and where I rekindled a passion for nursing, something, I never thought feasible. During this time of change, I remembered a word of wisdom my parents had shared with me, which, like most kids, I did not listen to or understand at the time. And as much as I want to gatekeep it, a lesson that is learned is a lesson that should be shared.

“People are at their own steps on their own pace, and each of our journeys has our own progress”. Let me say that again. “People are at their own steps on their own pace, and each of our journeys has our own progress.” So often, I thought that I needed to fit myself into this tiny box, this mold that society shoves down our throat about what is the right way to live, the natural order of things. If you don’t follow this plan to a T, your life and experiences are not credible or valued the same as others.

But here’s the truth. There is no equation to a perfect life. There is no one singular journey or path. No correct answer. If we waste our time living someone else’s life or chasing ghosts of who we think we should be, we will never be able to actualize our true self. Your narrative, your struggles, the things we hide from ourselves, what we hide from others, is what makes you you. It drives change through diversifying perspectives, fosters personal growth, challenges conformity, and creates a richer, more vibrant society for everyone. As I hinted before, I have struggled with depression and anxiety, and instead of disparaging myself, I use that as a strength. My struggles will allow me to be a better, more compassionate nurse; my journey, although different than others, will allow me to understand the needs of my patients in ways not a single other person in this room could understand. I’d love for all of us, graduates and everyone here today, please take a second and just think about how you can use your struggles to positively impact those around you.

So, please live your own journey, and how each of us goes about that, that’s what’s different. It’s different in what careers we choose, whom we choose to spend our life with, and what we choose to do in every moment after this. It’s different in the triumphs and tragedies that come upon us, but again, this is your journey. Whatever brought you here, whether you are graduating here straight out of high school, after a pause in schooling, raised a family in between, or are here after years of the challenges life has thrown at you. No matter how we got here, we should all be proud of what we have accomplished because it's our journey, no one else’s.

If there is one message I want to leave with my fellow graduates, it’s this: live your unique journey; not only is it your determination, your perseverance, and your dreams that let you cross this stage at this very moment, but every twist and turn on your path, every set back, every perceived failure, led you to this moment. That’s what made you stronger.  This YOU is what your friends, family, community, and our society need right now. The authenticity of you.

Thank you, and again, congratulations to fall 25’ ECC grads!