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“There were days where I didn’t think I was going to make it, days when I couldn’t pay to go to school or didn’t have enough money and I couldn’t afford a meal. I kept believing, even in those dark times, that if you just keep pushing eventually those little pushes will compound to a big effect. Just keep going even when it doesn’t look like there’s light.”

Civil rights veteran and U alum Rev. France A. Davis will deliver commencement address exploring the power of unity.

General commencement ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 3 with most convocations Friday, May 4.

U faculty recognized for teaching, scholarly and creative research, service, innovation and impact, community-engaged teaching and more.

Here’s a list of all 20 convocations on the schedule this year and ways to navigate to and from the celebrations.

Ben Nemtin, No. 1 New York Times best-selling author and star of MTV’s “The Buried Life,” to share message of accomplishing the impossible as graduates pursue future endeavors.

“I will give back to LEAP for the rest of my life. I came to this big university on my own with this goal, and not really sure how to accomplish it. LEAP gives you a direction and they opened doors.”

“I’ll never forget when the first service dog my husband and I trained met his veteran. We were at the airport to meet our veteran. We saw him coming around the corner in his wheelchair, and he went straight to his dog, Ares (who he named after the God of War), and said, ‘I’ve been waiting a really long time for you,’ and for a few minutes, the pair were so connected they weren’t even aware of the rest of us around them.”

“After graduating, I want to help build a better bridge and provide a voice for my home community. We are one of the original groups of Utah Navajos and, a lot of times when it comes to issues we face in our community, our voices get drowned out by groups off the reservation.”

“I’m really proud of one assignment that’s going to be part of the student show in Gittins Gallery in the Arts building. The theme was, “Portrait without a head” about how you represent someone without physically representing them. So, I did my mom and made a 36-inch-long meth pipe. She was an addict and passed away when I was 12 so I felt comfortable that I could tell this story of her, through my eyes.”