Well folks, the end of college is happening this weekend. It’s rather bittersweet, but I think I’m ready for it. This adventure has been an adventure to the rim, and I’m ready for the next one. I auditioned to give a speech at the College of Business graduation. I didn’t get the speech, but I’m really proud of what I wrote and wanted to transfer those words onto this medium. Perhaps they will resonate with those who are graduating, graduated, or will one day graduate. Or perhaps they won’t. Regardless, here they are (with some pictures to break em’ up).

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Good morning and welcome to the College of Business Convocation of May 2016.

My name is Leah, a graduating senior. I studied supply chain management and marketing and spent many of my college days involved with Enactus, a business organization, and the Illinois Women’s Club Water Polo team.

But if you were to ask a friend to describe me, they would say, without hesitation: oh she’s the travel girl. From a semester of business courses in Beijing, China to a week spent launching a chamber of commerce in Nicaragua, my study abroad experiences were some of the most defining of my college career.

And for me, spending time abroad was a chase to define a four-letter word called: home.

Home is usually defined as a place of residence or, if you want to go the more sentimental route, home is “where the heart is.” The parents in the crowd may argue that home is where they raised us for 18 years (and rightfully so).

But, what I have found is that home is tied to all of these things, and instead, it’s a concept: home is where you grow to become yourself.

Let’s take a look at U of I, where we’ve found ourselves in so many different ways. The student organization where you learned how to lead, made tough decisions, and maybe even fell in love. The hallways in BIF surrounded by people speaking a variety of languages where you learned what “diversity” really means. That exciting job offer, and how happy and proud your parents were to have a child that was employed.

Looking back, we realize that these moments collectively have shaped us.

Take a look around you. Take a look at this sea of confident, intelligent adults.

Search for your classmates, the ones who pushed you to achieve more. Your professors, the ones who wouldn’t accept work that was less than your best, even if it drove you crazy. Your parents, the ones who boosted your morale when you didn’t get that dream internship. Look at your closest friends, the ones who watched you laugh, cry, and laugh until you were crying.

Take a look back at the person you were at freshman business orientation. And look at you now! Each of us has grown so much over these past four years. We’ve mastered the STAR method (maybe not by choice), learned the difference between debits and credits, and we’ve developed an idea of the kind of career we want to pursue (or at least an idea…for now).

We have grown in confidence, in self-awareness, in understanding how the world works and how we fit into it. If you would have told my freshman self that I would someday be confident enough to stand up and give a speech in front of thousands of people, I would have called you insane.

And when I look back at these 4 years and try to make sense of it all, THIS is what I’m most thankful for. For helping me to finally put the period on the end of a sentence that says “Yes, THIS is who I am.”

So in this sense, U of I has become our home over these past few years. And after today, this really won’t be our home any more. Sure, we can come back and visit as alumni, but it’s time for us to search for our next home.

Are we somewhat terrified? Absolutely. Our past 22 years have been defined by a set of rules, and today, these rules disappear. There are no more classes to “accidentally” oversleep, no more stressful career fairs, and no more bell curves.

Sure, we can try and plan for what lies ahead of us. I think I know what my first job has in store for me, and I think I know what I’ll be doing 3 years from now. But, in reality, graduation today is a leap off a diving board, plunging into this new, uncharted body of water. We can see the surface from here, sure, but we have no idea what lies beneath. Seriously, there could by anything down there—new opportunities, marriages, hardships, friendships, new hobbies, new businesses, and maybe even our own businesses.

Many have told us that college is the best 4 years of our lives. Is it a great 4 years? Of course it is, but we have so much more ahead of us. We have the skills, the confidence, and the power to craft these next 70 years into some that are even better than the first 22.

Our degrees can be used to solve some of the world’s most impeding problems—complex or simple, small-scale or large. We can use our degrees to do something that makes us happy, something that makes others happy, or even better—a combination of the two. Your Illinois business degree will stretch as far as your imagination will let it.

2016 graduates, I challenge you to embrace the unknown. Let it propel you towards that job and that life you’ve always dreamed of. U of I may not be our “home” anymore, but Illini we will always be. Keep your head high and use these four years of experiences to guide you as you search for your next city of residence, job opportunity, community, and place to grow and call home.

Congrats to all the 2016 graduates–may your futures be as wild as your dreams.

Thanks for everything, U of I!