![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/graduate-studies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/142\/2026\/06\/masters_grad_sp26_junie-scaled.jpg\")
Good evening to Furman faculty, staff, alumni, community partners, families, and guests and most importantly, to my classmates, my community, my family\u2014Cohort 11.<\/p>\nNew Master of Science in Community Engaged Medicine graduate Junie Mertus was selected by her classmates to speak on their behalf at the Graduate Studies Hooding Ceremony on May 8, 2026. To follow is Junie\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Good evening to Furman faculty, staff, alumni, community partners, families, and guests and most importantly, to my classmates, my community, my family\u2014Cohort 11.<\/p>\n
They told me I only had five minutes to speak about our journey\u2026
\nbut if we\u2019re being honest, after everything we\u2019ve been through this speech could easily be another thesis.<\/p>\n
When we first walked into orientation\u2026
\nwe thought we were just stepping into another program.<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t realize\u2026
\nwe were stepping into something that would challenge us, stretch us, and shape us in ways we didn\u2019t see coming
\nand somehow it turned a room full of strangers\u2026
\ninto a community we would carry with us long after this moment.<\/p>\n
David Spangler once said, \u201cSome people think they are in community, but they are only in proximity. True community requires commitment and openness.\u201d<\/p>\n
And looking at us now\u2026
\nI know we were never just in proximity.<\/p>\n
We came here thinking we were going to learn medicine.
\nTo prepare for our next step.
\nTo become professionals in our fields.<\/p>\n
But what we didn\u2019t realize\u2026
\nwas how much this journey was going to demand from us.<\/p>\n
We were thrown into fire hydrant-type summer courses
\ntrying to absorb everything at once.
\nTrying to write a thesis in a year.
\nTrying to understand concepts that didn\u2019t always make sense the first time\u2026
\nor the second time.<\/p>\n
And it wasn\u2019t just the pace, it was the depth.<\/p>\n
We were pushed to think differently.
\nTo question what we thought we knew.
\nTo go beyond memorizing and actually understand.<\/p>\n
There were nights where nothing made sense.
\nWhere the material didn\u2019t click\u2026where the clock kept moving\u2026
\nand where 11:59 didn\u2019t feel like a deadline.
\nIt felt like a test of who we were.<\/p>\n
And in those moments\u2026
\nwe had a choice.<\/p>\n
We could either shut down\u2026
\nor choose to lean on each other.<\/p>\n
And Cohort 11\u2026
\nwe leaned in.<\/p>\n
Study groups became more than just studying.
\nThey became spaces where we showed up for each other\u2026
\nwhere we challenged each other\u2026
\nwhere we reminded each other that we were capable, even when we didn\u2019t believe it ourselves.<\/p>\n
And somewhere in the middle of all that pressure\u2026
\nsomething shifted.<\/p>\n
Because this program was never just about medicine.<\/p>\n
It was about people.<\/p>\n
Through our fieldwork in clinics, in hospitals, in communities
\nwe began to see what health really looks like.<\/p>\n
Not just symptoms.
\nNot just diagnoses.<\/p>\n
But access.
\nEnvironment.
\nLived experience.
\nTrust.<\/p>\n
We stopped just asking, \u201cWhat is the diagnosis?\u201d
\nAnd started asking, \u201cWhat is their story?\u201d<\/p>\n
We challenged our professors.
\nWe challenged the curriculum.
\nWe advocated for ourselves as a cohort.<\/p>\n
And that takes courage.<\/p>\n
Because growth doesn\u2019t happen in comfort.
\nIt happens when you\u2019re stretched\u2026
\nwhen you\u2019re uncertain\u2026
\nwhen you\u2019re forced to think differently and show up anyway.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s exactly what we did.<\/p>\n
There was no Plan B in this room.<\/p>\n
No backup version of ourselves we were willing to settle for.<\/p>\n
There was only forward.
\nOnly growth.
\nOnly becoming.<\/p>\n
We sharpened each other.
\nIron sharpened iron.<\/p>\n
And even in the moments when the storm felt overwhelming\u2026
\nwe didn\u2019t turn away from each other.<\/p>\n
We showed up.<\/p>\n
For me\u2026 this journey has always been personal.<\/p>\n
I come from a family that understands sacrifice.
\nNot as an idea\u2026but as a reality.<\/p>\n
To my mother Marie and my father Jean\u2014
\nyou came here with nothing but the clothes on your backs, working tirelessly to create something greater.<\/p>\n
And my mom once told me something I will carry for the rest of my life:<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can take everything from you in this world, but what they can never take is your ability to learn and to go further with the lessons you have learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
And I carried that with me\u2026
\nthrough every late night\u2026
\nevery moment of doubt\u2026<\/p>\n
Every tear\u2026
\nand every time the pressure felt like too much.<\/p>\n
I leaned on my village\u2014my family, my amazing partner\u2014who reminded me that I didn\u2019t have to do this alone.<\/p>\n
My siblings\u2026especially my brother Emmanuel\u2026you have always been my why.<\/p>\n
Watching you navigate your diagnosis showed me what patient advocacy truly looks like not in theory, but in real life.<\/p>\n
And it was through this program\u2026
\nthat I began to understand how community shapes not just outcomes\u2014
\nbut lives.<\/p>\n
So, as we stand here today\u2026
\npreparing to step into our next roles whether in medicine, dentistry, mental health, or beyond\u2014<\/p>\n
We carry something greater than just knowledge.<\/p>\n
We carry perspective.
\nWe carry resilience.
\nAnd we carry responsibility.<\/p>\n
Community was built among us.
\nNot just in proximity but in commitment, in growth, and in showing up for one another.<\/p>\n
Over these past 11 months, we didn\u2019t just learn medicine\u2026we learned people, purpose, and perspective.<\/p>\n
And that is what kept us running this marathon.<\/p>\n
So no, this is not goodbye.<\/p>\n
This is the beginning of walking into the next chapter\u2026with more people on your side than you started with.<\/p>\n
Cohort 11\u2026<\/p>\n
I challenge us to never forget what this program taught us…to see people before we see problems, to listen before we assume, and to show up even when it\u2019s uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
So go be great.
\nGo succeed.
\nExcel in every way
\nBUT never forget\u2026 it takes community.<\/p>\n
Congratulations!<\/p>\n
We did it.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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