ERIE, Pa. — Penn State Behrend awarded 660 degrees at the college’s spring commencement ceremony. The May 6 program, which was held at Erie Insurance Arena, also honored the college’s 2020 graduates, whose commencement events were virtual, due to the pandemic.
“Commencement is the most anticipated event of the academic year — one the entire Behrend community looks forward to as much as graduates and families do,” Chancellor Ralph Ford said. “It was important that we celebrate this milestone with those whose in-person commencement was interrupted by a time of social distancing and isolation.”
Charisse Nixon, a professor of psychology, gave the commencement address, “Where do you go from here? The importance of building your own GPS." Nixon's remarks, which focused on resilience, appear below, in their entirety.
"These past two years, you have lived through a pandemic, adjusted to courses online, then back to in-person, and then, for some of you, back to a mixture of both online and in-person classes. You have had to navigate a new culture amidst masked faces and social distancing. During that time, we lost some control over with whom, and where, we spend our time.
"But now, we have the opportunity to intentionally rebuild that culture. You get to decide, for the most part, who you want to spend your time with, and where. Choice is a gift. Don’t take it lightly.
"You have grown in unexpected ways during this time, and, perhaps, even surprised yourself. You have developed resilience.
"What exactly is resilience? We tend to think of resilience as some secret ingredient — as one thing, and if we only had that one thing, then … you fill in the blank. But, according to experts at the University of Minnesota, it’s not ONE thing, and it’s not some silver bullet. Instead, it’s many things: ordinary things — things that help us to adapt well during stressful situations. Things we can develop and grow. Professor Ann Masten calls these qualities “ordinary magic.” And the good news is that we all have the capacity to grow resilience.
"Well, how do you grow your resilience?
"According to researchers like Carol Dweck, David Yeager and a host of others, your mindset — the beliefs, attitudes and perceptions about yourselves and others — matters. A recent article in UC Berkely’s Greater Good Science Center highlighted three mindset shifts that can help as you walk through new transitions in your life. These three shifts are referred to as your 'GPS mindset.' This GPS can also be thought of as building our pathway to resilience. I like this analogy of a GPS, because a GPS helps us to get where we need to go — what route to take.
"Similarly, when you leave here, you are looking for direction — for ways to successfully navigate your first job out of college, or graduate school, or a host of other opportunities. But unlike the GPS on our phone or digital device, which just shows up when we ask it, we have to build this GPS before we use it."