Remarks to the Class of 2024
by Senior Class Speaker Giana De La Cruz ’24
106th Commencement
May 19, 2024
Hello graduates, acclaimed faculty and staff, family and friends,
I thank you all for giving me the honor of speaking to you today at the 106th commencement of Connecticut College. To my Class of 2024, I want to start off by giving you all a warm and heartfelt congratulations! As I stand in front of you all here today, I struggle to really understand how we have arrived here. It was just yesterday we all arrived at Connecticut College with masks on, our parents crying, or smiling while dropping off way more things than we actually needed. Just yesterday, some of us had our first Camel Moments. But soon, it will be just yesterday that we sat in a sea of our peers and graduated from Connecticut College, home of the Camels!
It actually feels like just yesterday I learned about something called the analytic third. I was introduced to this concept through a book. It was defined as being the connection built between a therapist and a client while in a therapy session. The analytic third is what we create when we make genuine contact with one another at a deeper emotional level of experience whether in groups, communities or organizations. When I got to class the next day to discuss the reading, I was the first to raise my hand in class and say, “uh, I’m not really sure I completely understand what this analytic third is, actually I’m very confused.” My professor chuckled a bit after everyone in the class kind of nodded agreeing that they were a bit confused as well. They went on to explain that the analytic third is a creation of connection. It is a third entity. The space between self and other, subject and object, fantasy and reality—the third dimension that emerges from two persons or two things fully engaged in the exploration of unconscious meanings, reasons, motives and actions. In a way it is surreal, some might even say not tangible. But others, myself included, think it is. Don’t worry, I know I just said a lot of big words and explanations, I sound like the book that confused me in the first place but, the analytic third is just a fancy term for connections, and no I do not mean CONNections, our signature academic program I mean connections.
When we sit with a friend on Tempel Green and don’t speak but say so much, words unspoken are whispered by our consciousness. When we walk in the arboretum and are surrounded by an endless amount of trees our mind suddenly quiets for a second or two, something rare in this fast paced world we live in. When we go watch a musical and feel as though we're actually a part of this fantasy world, singing and dancing alongside these characters. Or, when we go to a sports game and stand up, eyes wide, hands clenched with anticipation of a goal or score. That … is the analytic third, the connection. We know how all of these feelings feel. We can sometimes even describe them, hold them and recreate them. As we sit here on our beloved Tempel Green, our minds racing with pictures of the ghosts of our younger selves throughout these four years running to JA to make a sandwich, going to coffee closet to quickly grab a drink or lying here under a bed of stars with our friends not caring that the grass beneath us is poking at our arms and legs or even just sitting in a collab room for hours doing anything but work.
That feeling we all have right now, the nostalgia, happiness, bittersweetness whatever it may be, that … that feeling is the analytic third. We are here at this moment, graduating from Connecticut College, but there is also something else happening in this moment, we feel something as a result of this experience. We are now aware of the memories built and the interactions had and suddenly, we can breathe and realize something has changed or happened. We have all created connections with this campus and this amazing experience we are so privileged to have had. We have cried, laughed, sang, played and learned on this campus. We have taken deep breaths and have come out changed and affected by our environment. Whether it be the people we met, the activities we’ve done or the classes we have taken. We have all created something here and left impressions most of us are not even aware of. Some of us have discovered ourselves, some lost and found again and some of us are eager to find self-discovery beyond Connecticut College. I encourage all of us to see and recognize these connections we leave behind today and look forward to countless more we’ll create in the future. May we ask more questions than we garner answers, listen more than we speak, constantly envision beyond the confines of reality and may we spread more kindness than judgment. Let us remember that the most important moments in our history books have been those which have started with uncertainty, those which have caused uncomfort and those that usually have started with questions.
As we leave Connecticut College, we are leaving with more than just degrees. I don't have
to explain that, you all feel it. Here, now, next to our peers, surrounded by our loved ones, our beloved faculty and staff. Those pictures I mentioned, they’re still there racing in each one of our minds the ghosts of ourselves playing right in front of us, running back and forth on this very Tempel Green from biology classes to human development. We feel all of the love at this very moment and the long lasting relationships and memories built on this very campus. We feel it, so let us keep feeling, creating and growing as we leave here. May we allow ourselves to wonder, succeed, fail and try again, each time taking a deep breath, looking up and appreciating what we have just created.
Congratulations Class of 2024, family, friends, faculty, staff and anyone else who has helped let us create and foster this beautiful, even magical analytic third with Connecticut College.
Giana De La Cruz ’24 has been selected as the student speaker for this year’s Commencement ceremony.
A resident of Boston, Massachusetts, De La Cruz is a psychology major, economics minor and scholar in the Public Health Pathway. Born in New York to a family from the Dominican Republic, she moved to the Dominican Republic as an infant before returning to the United States when she was 5 years old.
At Conn, De La Cruz has served as head of public relations for the POCA Fashion Show, a mentor in the Genesis program and the social media program assistant for the Office of Student Engagement. Twice a week, she interns at New London High School’s career and college office to help students develop post-high school plans.
As a junior, De La Cruz studied abroad in England at Queen Mary University of London for a semester with the IES program. She learned about public health in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States through comparative research and analysis of public health systems around the world. She completed a research project for her pathway about immigration integration in the U.K. and U.S., which she presented at the All-College Symposium in November.
In London, De La Cruz interned at Migrateful, a company that works with immigrants and asylum seekers who have a passion for cooking. They learn English, recipe creation and public speaking, so they can become cooking class instructors for Migrateful. Throughout the process, Migrateful also helps them with personal endeavors and provides community during the challenging process of moving to a new country, De La Cruz explained.
After graduation, De La Cruz will work at Massachusetts General Hospital as an administrative manager for its Aspire summer Adventure Camp, which specializes in helping children and young teens on the autism spectrum succeed in social situations. She plans to pursue a Master of Social Work and is applying to graduate school. “In the far future, I hope to help close the gaps between mental health care, people of color, affordability and the intersection between all of those things,” she said.
De La Cruz said being selected as the student Commencement speaker is an honor. “As I reflect on the last four years here at Conn, I feel grateful to have been here with my fellow graduates and all of the amazing people on this campus,” she said. “I am glad to be able to address everyone, give them all praise one last time and hopefully leave everyone with one last beautiful memory of our experience. My speech is a reflection of our years together and the years and experiences to come. It is dedicated to all of our younger selves and the memories they hold and will keep safe for us.
“I am proud to be the first in my family to graduate from college, especially one like Connecticut College. I am proud to be setting the standard high for my family for future generations. All of our futures and lives have changed with this new journey and experience we went through together. My parents came here for a better life and education and this is the product of that leap of faith, which I will always be grateful for.”