2,342 earn degrees during BYU summer commencement

PROVO — As Jacqueline du Plessis stood outside of the Marriott Center on the Brigham Young University campus Thursday afternoon in a graduation cap and gown, a huge smile spread across her face. She did it. She finished something she started seven years previously.

"I've been through a lot of trials and experiences to get here, and now that I am here it is so surreal," she said. "It is a great way to end my seven years."

Although her parents — who live in South Africa — weren't able to attend the actual graduation ceremony, du Plessis expressed her gratitude to them as she spoke with her aunt, uncle and cousin who were in town from Wisconsin.

She is one of the 2,342 students who earned a degree in the most recent graduating class at BYU.

Almost thirty-one years ago to the day, the keynote speaker, Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understood what du Plessis felt Thursday afternoon, as he remembered sitting in the Marriott Center, wearing a cap and gown listening to his own graduation ceremony.

"I must confess that while I was sitting where you now sit, it never dawned on me that this transition would actually happen, or that it would come so quickly," he said.

In his address, Elder Christensen spoke of the importance of looking forward and thinking about how the small steps taken each day make a difference in ones ultimate happiness and accomplishment in the future.

"Everything we hope to accomplish in the future, how we prepare for the responsibilities that will ultimately be ours, is really a function of what we do today," he said. "Though some things about the future will always seem uncertain, the future is not entirely a mystery. To a great extent, the future is shaped by the accumulation of all our daily activities and disciplined efforts."

Elder Christensen told graduates that it is through their hard work — and a continuation of that hard work — that they will be able to make a difference for good in the world in which they live. Elder Christensen shared three small steps for individuals to do daily in order to ensure a brighter future.

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