# @elonuniversity on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CdtKopzLNJH
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/14472517-elonuniversity-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/02ca987b61.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-05-18T16:14:39.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Elon University (@elonuniversity) — https://gondola.cc/elonuniversity

## Caption

“It hasn’t hit me that I’m graduating yet. Being Under the Oaks made me reflect on how our time is coming to an end … and how this place has shaped who I am.“- Mia Mathas ’22

Tuesday night #Elon22 gathered Under the Oaks for reflection and inspiration as they prepare to walk across the stage for Commencement on Friday. The Numen Lumen: Senior Baccalaureate Reflection was a beautiful opportunity for seniors to reflect on how they’ve changed since receiving their acorns in that very spot four years ago, and how the world has changed around them.

And the world certainly has changed. This class has been through a lot, not only during their time at Elon but in their lives. As baccalaureate speaker, Senior Lecturer LD Russell noted the challenges these students have already faced including the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis and now a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of at least 1 million people in the US alone. He noted that members of the Greatest Generation, who went through two world wars and the Great Depression, also endured tragedy and challenges.

“I would suggest to you that they were able to do that not despite the struggles of their youth, but precisely because of them. After all, as many of us have learned over the past two years, it is the difficult times that push us to grow, that force us out of complacency and make us dig down deep to our inner core where the real strength, the true grit lies,” Russell said to the crowd of at least 800 seniors.

It goes without saying, we are immensely proud of the Class of 2022, for all they have accomplished, for all the grit they have shown.

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