Amber Raygo
A native of Menominee, Michigan, Amber Raygo graduates with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and certificates in marketing and digital marketing. A TRIO Student Support Services student, she received the Chancellor’s Award of Excellence in 2021 and UW Oshkosh Titan LeadHERship Award in 2020. She was president of the National Society of Leadership and Success. During her time as president, she had the opportunity to speak to representatives from more than 700 colleges in a virtual event that took place in 2020. After graduation, she plans to work full time in a role she began in September as executive assistant to the chief executive officer/director of The Grand Oshkosh. Raygo hopes to someday be director of a nonprofit organization.
The following are her prepared remarks from the morning ceremony during UW Oshkosh’s 57th midyear commencement:
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As I start my speech, I want to pose a question for you to think about: Where are you from? I bet you can quickly answer that with insert your hometown here. I am from Menominee, Michigan. Why does it matter where I am from? Well, my hometown is no longer where I consider to be from.
UW Oshkosh has changed me and who I consider to be Amber Raygo. Coming to college, I wanted to be Elle Woods meets psychology. I wanted to study hard, work for a mental health institute, become a psychologist and have pink scented paper. If you haven’t seen the movie Legally Blonde, I highly recommend it.
After finding out that professors are not as scary as high school teachers made them sound, I met with a few of my professors the first week of school to learn more about my future as a psychologist. As a freshman, I was shocked at how friendly these professors were and how much they actually cared about me. Why did they care about me so much? It was not long before I found out a lot of people at UWO care about you and your success in college. I also found psychology was not the route for me. I switched to the College of Business and changed my major to marketing. This was not without the help and guidance I received from the resources at UWO.
My academic adviser, residence life conference services staff and COB staff all worked together to help me find a field I loved. They each devoted a lot of time with me. Out of curiosity I looked up the time that was spent with me by my academic adviser during that change. For that ONE transitional period in my life, my adviser alone spent 11 hours making sure I was OK and was doing the right thing for me.
Turns out one semester into COB I realized that was NOT the route for me. We are talking business math people, you would struggle too. With the help of all of those people and the counseling center, I found my home in the journalism department. After sorting out what I wanted to study, life once again threw a curveball. I found myself facing some health troubles. Thanks to the Disability Center I was able to be accommodated in my classes to ensure I was comfortable while learning. Bottom line is, I have utilized almost every resource here and without these resources, I would have been a college dropout.
UWO has also seen you at your best and worst. From the tears shed the first day of being dropped off at college. From the tears shed when you received your first ever D on a test. Don’t lie to yourself, you’ve gotten a bad grade on a test. From the tears shed when you had your first real heartbreak. I realized while writing this that wow, I am assuming people cry as much as I do. From the happiness surrounding you at Titan Nights, from the roaring of the crowd during your first ByGosh fest. From the joy felt when you received your first post grad job offer. Who was there during these times, both good and bad? The walls of Evans, the floors of Dempsey, the pavement in the Kolf parking lot. UWO was there. The faculty and staff were there when you needed to ask questions about your grades. I can not tell you how many times professors were there to literally wipe my tears while going through life situations that had nothing whatsoever to do with academics. If you missed out on making these connections, it’s not too late.
UWO is still here. UWO has been here for 150 years and will continue to be here for more. So, take the job that is 10 hours away from UWO. Move back to your hometown and start a family. Move across the U.S. or abroad to serve in the Armed Forces. Or stay in Oshkosh to fulfill your dream career. UWO will always be a part of you, and the UWO pride will follow you wherever you are meant to go.
This is the place where I’ve felt the most like I belong. Coming from a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I did not know all that I could be. It was with the help of UWO faculty and staff that I grew and became who I was meant to be. Whether you realize it or not UWO has been a part of your life in a huge way and changed who you are. Wherever you go, there are people smiling on campus. When you walk into Reeve there is always a staff member who you don’t quite remember their name, but they wave at you. The clubs and organizations you were a part of became your family of friends. Now my question comes back into play.
Where are you from? I would hope that many of you would now answer that you are from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Thank you.
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