May 15th, 2026
“Wow, it went so fast!”
This is the most common response I receive when I tell someone that I graduate from school this month. And, with all due respect, this has not been my experience at all. No, this has been two of the longest years of my life, in the very best way.
A few summers ago, I got an idea, which is always a dangerous thing for me to have. Like a puppy with a sock in its mouth, I have difficulty putting them down. I started a graphic design program when I was 19, made it to the third quarter, and dropped out unceremoniously; it wasn’t a decision that haunted me, but it did feel like regret. I clearly love art and design, I love learning, I love communication, I love rules (and love breaking them), I love accomplishing goals; how did I not have my degree? I learned about the North Star Scholarship, which made school affordable, through TV interviews with Governor Walz and thought: I could do this.
So I did.
I started taking the steps towards finishing something I started twenty years ago. I filled out the right forms, I talked to the right people and, before I knew it, I was sitting in a classroom on the first day of school at the age of 39, in August of 2024.
It’s at this point that most accounts would say “fast-forward to today” but that’s not what happened for me. The last two years were novel and difficult and exceptionally rewarding. I got humbled day after day in a way that, let’s be honest, I totally deserve. I knew stuff before; I know so much more stuff now, including how much stuff I just don’t know. I wanted to fully embrace this educational season of my life, so I joined clubs and volunteered and competed and connected to so many people from every age and walk of life. At the same time, hard stuff happened at home, as stuff does; thanks to the wonderful support I had here at home, we were able to figure it out and keep it all afloat until I made it back ashore.
It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t inconsequential.
It did turn something I used to regret into something I am so glad I initially failed at; my life has been impossibly enriched by the time I spent at DCTC the last two years. I can’t imagine it happening any other way.
I know I said it in my speech (both versions), but I want to repeat it once more: you are undone. Forever. You can be whoever you want to be and I hope you choose to be who you really are. There are things you want to do but haven’t and, odds are, it’s because they are hard things to do. I can’t speak for you but I can say that, for me, the difficulty is worth it and, actually, the difficulty is the point. We’re being coldly sold on efficiency; let A.I. live your literal life for you, what could go wrong?
Everything. Everything could go wrong. You might find yourself at the end of a life realizing you didn’t really live it all.
I just want to, once again, give you all my love and gratitude for the love and support you have given me, especially at home, work, and in school. I’m exhausted, I’m burned out, but I am so happy and fulfilled and proud to be a former student (and future alumni) of DCTC.
So what’s next? Oh boy. If you know me, you know I have ideas, and aren’t those just the most dangerous things to have.
The Den 