Col. Shamekia N. Toliver, Commander of the 42nd Air Base Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, encouraged Troy University graduates to take the values of commitment, determination, grift and resiliency they have demonstrated and make a difference in the world around them.
Col. Toliver delivered the keynote address during Wednesday night’s spring commencement ceremony in the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts at TROY’s Montgomery Campus. She leads all base operating, infrastructure, and services support for 42,000 active duty, Reserve, civilian, and contract personnel, students, and families at Maxwell AFB and Gunter Annex in direct support of Air University, 908th Airlift Wing, Air Force Materiel Command units, Defense Information Systems Agency and more than 40 other mission partners. As Maxwell’s installation commander, she partners with local officials across a three-county, 12-city region with an annual military economic impact of $2.2 billion.
“Today is your day. You stand here today different in almost every aspect of your life as compared to the person that walked through the door on that very first day of starting your educational journey,” she told the nearly 120 graduates participating in the ceremony. “You understand commitment, determination, grit and resilience – values that will serve you for the rest of your life. Today we celebrate one of life’s biggest milestones – your graduation. We’re here because you did it. You balanced work, family, life and the kind of course schedules that make sleep optional. You fought through papers, presentations, lectures that some of you didn’t understand, but somehow you survived finals week, and you are actually graduating today.”
Noting the average age of undergraduates receiving their diplomas during the ceremony, Col. Toliver commended their commitment while juggling all the demands that generally face the non-traditional student.
“I learned that here tonight the average age of the graduating undergraduate student is 42 years old. That means non-traditional students,” she said. “Many of you are active-duty members, veterans, reservists, military spouses or working professionals, just juggling more than I can handle in one hand. That’s what makes Troy University at the Montgomery Campus so exceptional. It is a university built on real life, not just lectures. Graduates, you didn’t just get your degree in a vacuum, you earned it while living, serving, parenting, working double shifts, and still managing to show up in class, online or in person, with just enough caffeine in your veins to get you through the day. And, let me say from one servant leader to another, that’s the kind of commitment that our great nation needs in warriors like you.”
Col. Toliver encouraged graduates to have a plan for the future and stay focused and committed to it.
“For your mission, stay focused. Establish what that plan is and stay committed and determined to achieve it,” she said. “Have some grit, growth, resolve, inspiration and toughness. Never underestimate the power you have by just showing up. Demonstrate your resilience, take that punch, get back up swinging and be the calm in the chaos. People will follow leaders who bring clarity and confidence.”
In closing, Col. Toliver echoed the Air Force’s motto, encouraging graduates to “Aim High.”
“I don’t know what the next chapter in your lives will look like, but I do know that you are ready. You’re ready because you didn’t just earn a degree, you earned it the hard way – the Troy University way – with determination, drive,” she said. “Go conquer the world. You are cleared for takeoff. May your coffee be strong, your WIFI never drop, and your next chapter be filled with purpose, pride and service to our great nation. Aim high, graduates.”
