Graduating senior Arjun Surya was selected by a student committee to deliver the student commencement address for Rice University’s Class of 2026. However, he was unable to give the speech at last weekend’s ceremony due to time constraints after weather delays. A Katy, Texas, native and resident of Sid Richardson College, Surya graduated with a double major in economics and social policy analysis and a minor in statistics.
During his time at Rice, he served as both president and chief justice of Sid Richardson College, pursued research at the intersection of law and economics and competed as a member of the George R. Brown Forensics Society. He now will join an economic consulting firm before attending Harvard Law School through the Junior Deferral Program.
Below is the commencement speech Surya prepared for his fellow graduates:
President DesRoches, faculty, families, friends and members of the Rice community, since I came to Rice, I couldn’t imagine leaving. It was always, “Oh, I still have two years left.” Then one. Then a semester. Then a few days. And now, here we are. And don’t get me wrong — I obviously knew what life was like outside of school. But the difficulty came from the fact that I didn’t want to imagine leaving.
Part of that comfort arises from our unique and inclusive culture. The residential college system creates a built-in community where your best friends live down the hall from you, and your professors might even be your next-door neighbors. This sense of community fosters the collaborative environment we pride ourselves on, where we learn from each other and contribute to our collective growth.
The tightness of our community also fosters an unconventional culture that distinguishes us from anywhere else. It’s hard to imagine another school where you might be cramming for a test the same night that you’re cleaning shaving cream off of windows, fixing a giant wooden pig or Febreezing your college commons after a stink bomb attack. But at Rice, that’s your average Thursday.
The truth is, nobody’s experience at Rice is the same. But that’s what makes it so special. We’ve all grown in our own ways, taking part in what Rice has to offer while contributing a part of ourselves as well.
Alas, all things come to an end. But in the words of Jeff Buckley: “It’s never over.” Because while we might no longer be 21-year-olds waiting for the next public ticket drop, we can still carry forward the values of community, collaboration and unconventional wisdom wherever life takes us next.
The world that we’re about to enter after graduation is a very different place from how it was when we matriculated. And while it may seem daunting, this is a world that increasingly needs the creativity, the quirkiness and the passion that everyone here has developed over the past four years.
Yes, it’s still hard to imagine leaving. Even as I’m giving this speech, a part of me is convinced that I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’ll be the middle of O-week. But while there truly is no place like Rice, we can bring a part of Rice wherever we go.
So, congratulations everyone, and good luck with what lies ahead!