Commencement Speech - Kristen Santos

May 12, 2026

By Kristen Santos

Class of 2026

Welcome and good morning faculty, staff, family, friends, and especially graduates.

Congratulations Class of 2026! We made it! Maybe just barely and with a whole lot of sleepless nights and caffeine, but we are here! We have waited and worked for what feels like FOREVER, but was somehow the fastest four years of our lives.

St. Catherine of Siena said, “Be who God created you to be, and you will set the world on fire.” The whole of Briar Cliff has been working to help form us into what we are meant to be. Our Catholic Franciscan institution has instilled its deep-rooted values into our lives through its mission, its professors, its coursework, and most of all its family. This community has worked tirelessly to help us all achieve our goals and set the world on fire with our passions and talents–with our love for the world.

Over these past four years we have all been searching for something. Searching for who we are as people, for what jobs we are called to do, where we’ll be when we graduate, and for many of us even what we believe. Along the way we have created more memories than we can hold close, more friendships than we ever imagined. I personally have grown so deeply in my faith and kindled a flame that burns within me guiding me to do what I was created for. 

18-year-old Kristen had everything figured out. I had a very simple plan; I was going to major in Elementary Education and then teach Kindergarten immediately after I graduated. Super simple and easy. However, Briar Cliff had something very different in mind for me. My practicum experiences and opportunities showed me that I was called to be a special education teacher. This was NOT my plan. So I went to my advisor’s office, Ms. Rohmiller, and told her that I needed help–and that I was terrified. Without hesitation she helped me and has been there every step of the way, reassuring my anxieties, helping me understand the complexities of my field (especially when I had absolutely no idea what was going on in class), and most importantly showing me what advocating for students looks like. I watched her setting the world on fire with her love for what she does, as many of our professors and staff do, and it was such an inspiration. I want to go out and follow in the footsteps of my teachers at Briar Cliff, sharing the love and warmth that I have been so fortunate to experience with my future students. And impactingthem in the ways that my teachers have impacted me. I know that my story is not the only one of its kind.

Many of you have experienced this inward shift that is overwhelming, but we all knew that we have a incredibly supportive community that is, and always will be, here for us. We have all taken great leaps of faith in our college journey and grown this flame inside us through our Briar Cliff family of coaches, teachers, staff members, and friends. Uncertainty and change will always be there, but the beauty is found in the communities we build and connections we make throughout our lives. 

Briar Cliff has taught me so many things, but the greatest of these things is how important relationships are because before we know it we will somehow have built a family. All of those at Briar Cliff have pushed and supported us to set the world on fire and embrace the uncertainty and the change.

On behalf of myself and my fellow graduates, I want to thank our Briar Cliff Family. Thank you to the staff who planned countless events and served our community with such care. Thank you to our coaches who have pushed us and shaped us to endure challenging things. Thank you to our friends and peers who showed us the beauty of collaboration, shared countless moments filled with laughter, and all the college memories we created. And especially thank you to our teachers, who spent countless hours pouring your knowledge out for us and guiding us in not only content, but how to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, leaders, and advocates. Thank you also to our families at home, who were the first to help us grow and change. We would not be before you here today without your love and support.

Always remember how Briar Cliff University has changed and shaped you in your trajectory as a person. Graduates, we are called to be exactly who we were created to be and do it with the love and confidence that is ever-burning inside of us.