Senior Reflection: McKenzie Nelson

CAS MarComm Author

05/17/2023 Added

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Graduating senior McKenzie Nelson reflects on her time at UNL during the college's Celebration of Excellence.

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[00:00:06.920]Good evening, everyone.
[00:00:08.000]My name's McKenzie.
[00:00:09.240]I'm majoring in German and global studies with minors in conflict
[00:00:12.400]and conflict resolution studies, human rights and humanitarian affairs.
[00:00:16.400]History.
[00:00:18.240]Oh, goodness.
[00:00:18.800]There's more...
[00:00:19.520]history.
[00:00:23.160]Jewish studies and political science.
[00:00:25.680]And I love them all equally.
[00:00:29.640]As I said, I'm a senior here.
[00:00:31.320]And so when I was asked to speak here, I started reflecting on my time
[00:00:35.400]and how I had changed since my freshman year.
[00:00:39.480]Thinking about 2019, I was thinking about the sad things
[00:00:42.160]that hadn't come to be and the good things that hadn't come yet.
[00:00:46.520]The first was it was a world without Harry Styles sophomore album Fine Line.
[00:00:51.600]It was a world without COVID and it was a world
[00:00:54.120]with a different football coach here.
[00:00:56.040]So you can choose if that's good or bad.
[00:01:01.080]Many of the changes were also personal.
[00:01:03.040]My freshman year. Sorry, I'm too short.
[00:01:06.240]My freshman year I wrote a research paper
[00:01:09.720]about tyrannical differences and linguistic differences,
[00:01:13.560]and if there was any ties to countries being more likely to be tyrannical
[00:01:17.760]if they had specific linguistic differences.
[00:01:21.000]And while as a freshman, I didn't really find much
[00:01:25.000]that was interesting, it did point me down the path of linguistics,
[00:01:28.920]which is what my final was about my
[00:01:33.240]thesis.
[00:01:34.560]And my sophomore year I began teaching English,
[00:01:37.920]which had the biggest impact on me.
[00:01:40.600]Not only did it help me learn the different ties that I didn't realize
[00:01:45.760]I had the different biases in my own language, but it also prepared me
[00:01:49.040]for being able to teach English, which I'm going to do now
[00:01:52.600]after graduation in Germany.
[00:01:55.720]My junior
[00:01:56.280]year, I started abroad in Berlin, and like anyone who's studied abroad,
[00:02:00.120]I will talk about it every single time I get it.
[00:02:05.280]Prepare me for a life without family close by
[00:02:08.400]and finding support systems that go beyond what I was used to.
[00:02:12.720]And my senior year,
[00:02:17.560]I reflect on a time that's really close to the present,
[00:02:20.560]so it's kind of hard to reflect and see how it's changed me.
[00:02:24.480]But I reflect on a time
[00:02:26.800]where I was propelled to grow over the past year
[00:02:30.400]with an activity, but also with the people around me that
[00:02:35.360]you've made me. The people that I am today.
[00:02:37.320]And I adore you
[00:02:38.120]not just for your accomplishments, but more importantly for who you are.
[00:02:42.560]Over the past year, I really, truly felt a growth that I haven't had before.
[00:02:48.240]In reflecting, I also
[00:02:49.200]realize that I really haven't changed all that much.
[00:02:52.520]I've only added on to the person that I already was.
[00:02:56.040]I've added a new major and five minors,
[00:02:58.920]new interests, friends, skills and new experiences.
[00:03:03.200]100...1,355 days ago I started my undergraduate degree
[00:03:08.640]and in just eight days I will be ending it.
[00:03:11.760]In the last 1355 days.
[00:03:15.480]I did not do it alone, but rather with the support of faculty and staff at UNL,
[00:03:21.520]with the support of my family and with my friends
[00:03:24.400]who always have been there for me.
[00:03:25.880]Late night talking,
[00:03:26.960]making me laugh and grabbing a bite to eat no matter what the time.
[00:03:31.480]Thank you for the amazing time here at college,
[00:03:34.640]and I wouldn't want it any other way.

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Senior Reflection: McKenzie Nelson

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