I’ve been told a lot of things in my life. “You won’t ever make it. You should drop out of high school. You’re not smart enough. You’re not very memorable. You have a voice but it’s like everyone else and just not very good. You’re not talented. You should really become a musical theatre major because you’re a better actor. You aren’t welcome back in this program. You ruined this program. You’re wasting your life in Communication. You’re not attractive. You’re not....” For a long time, I was doing things to “show them all”, but this time, I did it for me. Yes, for every terrible thing an educator or authority figure said to me—I made it, I graduated, I did it all to the best it can possibly be done AND I won a lot of awards, too—but I’m also finally happy with who I am and where I’m going. Maybe I’m not the smartest person but I never wanted to be. Maybe I don’t have the voice those people wanted but I love my unique voice and I do have talent. Maybe I’m not an athlete or super muscular but damn can I model a smile. I can’t change them, the way they feel, think or what they said but I can change me. And I did. I am exactly who I am supposed to be. So it took a while to realize that, I’m here now and that’s all that matters. . . . #UWSPgrad #pointerpride #uwsp #commencement #graduation #classof2018 #collegegrad #grad #college #studentspeaker #commencementspeaker #happy #communication #publicrelations #music #passions #friends #memories #smile #whatever #movingon #finally #life #nextchapter #iamanyon (at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point)