This weekend, Ohio University added more than 3,000 people to its alumni list.
Nancy Cartwright, an Emmy award-winning actress and voice of television superstar Bart Simpson, spoke at the commencement, telling students to do what they love and trust their instincts.
Cartwright, a native of Kettering, Ohio, began her postsecondary education at Ohio University and was once a member of OU’s forensics team.
"No one prepared me for success,” she said. “I simply decided what I really loved doing and made choices along the way that focused me in that direction."
Cartwright’s speech was informal at times.
“I really enjoyed the keynote speaker,” said Sean O’Malley, who studied business administration in OU’s Honors Tutorial College and graduated Saturday. “It was a good mix of seriousness and humor.”
O’Malley said although he is excited to start his new job this October with KPMG in Chicago, he will miss OU.
“I'm going to miss mostly all the friends I’ve made in the past four years,” he said. “I’m definitely going to stay in touch but I doubt we’ll all be in the same place again.”
Chelsea Mangia, who studied community health and became an alumna Saturday, looks forward to the road ahead.
“I’m just really excited but looking forward to going onto grad school and completing that,” she said.
However, Mangia said she’ll miss Athens as well.
“There are not too many places where it’s this beautiful and safe to always walk around,” she said. “People are always very friendly and accommodating.”
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