Many in UNLV’s undergraduate class of 2026 began their college studies after the COVID-19 pandemic upended their high school years. So it’s not surprising that contending with uncertainty was a theme for this year’s featured student speakers.
“It seems scary when one chapter of our lives ends, and it feels like there is the weight of the world pressuring us to make the right move,” said Makenzi Perkins, who spoke during the May 16 morning undergraduate ceremony.
The new public health alumna went on to say, “It would be easier to have a handbook for every right move to make or, rather, a rubric that can give us detailed instructions for the assignments life hands us, but I think we would seriously miss out on all the ways we have to teach ourselves now.”
Over a series of ceremonies last week, UNLV conferred more than 3,700 degrees, welcoming the class of 2026 to the Rebels Forever family that is now nearly 160,000 strong.
In the afternoon undergraduate ceremony, speaker Zaryaab Shahid said, “I think we all expected that by the time we go here, we would know exactly who we are, exactly what we are doing, and exactly where we are going.”
Shahid echoed Perkins’ sentiment, saying her biological sciences degree — and perhaps more importantly, the experiences she gained at UNLV — have prepared her well for what comes next.
“Every opportunity we have been provided is a way for us to begin this new chapter in our lives and forge our own paths forward as impactful members of society,” Shahid said.
Ebenezer Asfaw Belete, who earned a Ph.D. in learning sciences and delivered an address during the Graduate College ceremony, credits the professors and mentors who help their students believe in their potential.
“A dream without an environment to nurture it is no different from a wishful thought,” he told the audience.
He encouraged his fellow new alumni to be nurturers of others. “We may be graduating with different majors, but we share a collective invisible minor — a minor in timeless influence … Education is not just about personal growth, but the positive difference our growth makes for others.”
Graduate ceremony speaker Glenda Pe Manuel Ordonez, who received a master's degree in hospitality administration, said, “This is not just my achievement, this is generational.”
And she urged the class of 2026 to remember: "Your path does not have to look like anyone else's to be meaningful. It does not have to be fast to be successful. And it does not have to be perfect to be powerful. Because what matters most is this: You continued. You showed up. You became. And you have already proven that you can rise."
