INTRODUCTION TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SPRING 2009 STUDENT COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Chair Roberts Members of the Board of Trustees, President Wong:

One of the special components of tomorrow’s graduation ceremonies is the student speaker’s commencement address.  I am pleased to introduce the young woman who was selected as the student who will address the graduates tomorrow, Ms. Jodi Lampi.

Please join me, Jodi.

Jodi enrolled at NMU in the fall of 2004.  She is from Ishpeming, Michigan.  Jodi is a double major in History/Secondary Education and English/Secondary Education.  She will graduate cum laude tomorrow.  She is a member of NMU’s Honors Program and will graduate with full lower and upper division honors.  Jodi has been on the Dean’s List almost every semester. 

Jodi considers herself an amateur historian and as such has produced four history documentaries with local and national themes—these productions won her National History Day first place honors in the state four times and placed her twice in the top ten nationally.  She is a member of the NMU Finn Club, serving as the president one year and teaching beginner level Finnish to members of the club.  Through the Finn Club, she attended the Expatriate Parliament Conference in September 2007 in Helsinki as a representative of NMU and the Upper Peninsula.  Jodi just completed her student teaching at an international school in Oulu, Finland.  While there, she spoke to an audience of 900 people on what it means to prepare and leave one’s homeland to enter the culture and community of a foreign land.

Jodi hopes to be working next fall as a high school History or English teacher.  She plans to also earn a Master’s degree while teaching.

The theme of Jodi’s address tomorrow is how students have discovered meaning in their lives while at Northern, with the help of parents, faculty, friends and fellow students.  She will exhort the graduates to make a difference in the quality of each day by planting seeds of hope and positive change.

Chair Roberts, I believe you have a presentation to make.