Emme Buzhardt, MSIL ’26 Hooding Ceremony Speech

New Master of Science in Innovation and Leadership graduate Emme Buzhardt was selected by her classmates to speak on their behalf at the Graduate Studies Hooding Ceremony on August 14, 2026. To follow is Emme’s speech.

Good evening and welcome. My name is Emme Buzhardt, and I am so humbled to be speaking to you all this evening and thankful to my MSIL cohort for giving me the opportunity to do so. I want to start by congratulating the class of 2026 on this incredible accomplishment and saying a big thank you to every family member, friend, and professor who is here tonight to support and celebrate this group.

But now, I’m curious. Have you ever seen a turtle on a fence post? If you have, have you ever stopped to wonder how it may have gotten there? When I was in elementary school, my dad purchased a short stone fence post with a turtle sitting on top of it and put it in our backyard. I remember looking at it and wondering what he thought was so great about it. I thought it was cute, but I didn’t understand it. Years later, I learned that my dad had heard a sermon that used this strange turtle on a fence post analogy. It was so impactful that he wanted a physical reminder of its meaning. I finally understood why it mattered. So, allow me to share it with you.

If you see a turtle on a fence post, how do you suppose it got there? Did it climb up the side? Grow wings and fly? Levitate? Regardless of where your imagination takes you, you know one thing: it didn’t get there by itself. Someone put it there. The turtle – that’s you and me. The fence post represents a position, milestone, or accomplishment that may have been unlikely or even impossible to reach on our own.

So here I stand, a turtle on a fence post, proud of the effort I have given, but equally grateful for the people who have helped lift me here. I am the culmination of the hard work, sacrifice, and support of the people who surround me. This doesn’t diminish my own efforts, but it serves as a reminder that achievement is rarely accomplished in isolation. In this program, it has been my classmates and professors who have elevated me both personally and professionally.

In an academic setting, producing thoughtful reflection requires intentionality from professors in asking meaningful questions, but it also requires students to take a leap of faith in responding with vulnerability.

I have been fortunate enough to experience both. I have been challenged by reflective components of the program, but more so, I have been challenged, encouraged, and stretched by the transparency of my peers. Hearing experiences that have shaped the way they live, lead, work, and interact has impacted me in ways I struggle to articulate.

After five years at Furman, reflection has become a skill I have repeatedly sharpened. I have often been met with assignments that require me to look back on my past experiences and uncover lessons that will mark my future. But, reflection has taught me more than to look back; it has helped me recognize who helped me get here and who I want to be because of it. And so, in my reflection on this program, its impact on me, and the ways it will guide my future, I can think only of my identity as a turtle on a fence post.

A few years ago, I listened to a podcast by Sadie Robertson where she referenced the way she aims to lead: with a limp. This phrase stuck with me. Leaders are often described as fierce, strong, and steady, with a touch of invincibility. For a long time, I thought that was what I needed to be. But leading with a limp suggests something different: acknowledging that our weaknesses and failures are not things to hide, but reminders that we were never meant to lead entirely in our own strength. A turtle may appear mighty atop a fence post, but it knows it did not get there alone.

The most impactful leaders in my life are ones who lead with a limp. The quality that makes them worth following is not their lack of failure. It’s their ability to admit wrongs or shortcomings, learn from them, and keep moving forward with persistent effort. That is how I aspire to lead: I want to show those around me that in the midst of weakness, I can lean on strength found outside of myself.

You, too, did not arrive at this moment by your own hard work, strength, or intellect alone. These things have surely aided in your success, but you are a culmination of the effort, sacrifice, support, and insight of the people you have encountered along the way. Throughout our lives, we are sure to find ourselves atop many fenceposts. Today, it’s a Master’s degree. Tomorrow, it may be a promotion, a new job, or a growing family.

When I think about my next steps after this program, I want to be someone who lifts others up, one who looks for the people around me who need encouragement, opportunity, or simply someone to believe in them. As you leave this room, soak it in. You’ve worked hard for this. You deserve to celebrate it. But then, I challenge you to look around, and find someone who needs a lift. And when you do, be the person who helps put them on their fence post. We may be proud of where we’ve landed, but our greatest impact may come from who we elevate next.

Thank you.