“A lot of who I am really became clear to me once I came to BU,” Michael Arellano says. “BU is a place that will really challenge who you are, and those challenges are the foundation of the growth that I’ve been able to experience.” Michael Arellano (bu_cas’24, bu_grs’24) is BU’s student speaker at this year’s All-University Commencement and will receive their dual bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science. Arellano plans to tell a story focused on activism that was both driven by, and a driver of, personal changes. During their time at BU, Arellano and a few others, including alumni and students from the Queer Activist Collective, founded the LGBTQ+ Student Task Force which recommended the LGBTQ+ students center (bupride). They and their activist friends also founded IMPACT (Intersection of Marginalized Peoples and Communities Task Force), constituted through the Student Senate, to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The first person in their family to get a g...