Surviving the Storm
'As someone navigating neurodivergence and grief while carrying invisible weights, I often questioned if I truly belonged here. But this campus — this community — showed me that I did." – Student orator Isa'Rose Ramos '25
Isa’ Rose Sophia Ramos earned an associate degree in human services from HCC and is tranferring to Westfield State Universiy to study psychology. Ramos was the Commencement 2025 student orator, delivered the remarks below.
'It’s an honor to be here today with faculty, families, friends, and fellow graduates —
My name is Isa’Rose Ramos, and I stand before you not just as a graduate, but as a garden that survived the storm.
This moment? It’s not just a ceremony. It’s a resurrection. A remembering. A return to soil that saw me through seasons of doubt — and (I) still chose to bloom.
When I first enrolled at HCC, I was still searching for my place—not only in higher education, but in myself. As someone navigating neurodivergence and grief while carrying invisible weights, I often questioned if I truly belonged here. But this campus — this community — showed me that I did.
Though most of my journey was online, the impact was anything but distant. In one in-person semester, I served as a tour guide and admissions assistant, giving prospective students a glimpse of the hope I had found.
I completed my Human Services internship practicum and earned my Human Services certificate — a milestone that felt like a quiet miracle.
Through the TRIO and Thrive programs, I received not just academic support but connection, encouragement, and care.
And through my induction into the National Society of Leadership and Success, I realized I wasn’t just surviving, I was leading myself into a new life.
HCC didn’t just give me tools. It gave me mirrors. It showed me who I could become – and believed it before I did.
To the faculty who saw our potential even when we felt invisible, thank you.
To the friends and family who stood by us while we wrestled with late nights, lost confidence, or rising tuition, thank you.
To every student sitting here who thought they wouldn’t make it, look at you now. You are not just graduates. You are gardens. You are the bloom of becoming.
We didn’t rise because everything was easy. We rose because we kept showing up. Because we dared to dig deeper. Because we remembered that, even in the dark, we were still growing. \
So I leave you today not with just a speech, but with a seed – a seed of knowing that wherever we are planted next, the soil we’ve grown from here at HCC will carry us.
May we bloom loudly.
May we root deeply.
And may we always remember:
From soil to stage, you are the bloom of becoming. I am not just a graduate — I am a garden that survived the storm.
And so are you."
PHOTO: Student orator Isa'Rose Ramos, above, gets ready for her Commencement speech. (Thumbnail) Ramos delivers her Commencement speech to her fellow graduates.
