Bemidji State University Graduates Honored at 2024 Commencement

It’s a dream of many students to walk across the stage in a cap and gown, grab your college degree, and finally be able to say you graduated college. For those students at Bemidji State University’s 104th commencement ceremonies on Friday, that dream came true, becoming a special moment for graduates to remember.

As it was a day to honor the class of 2024, that means most of these new grads started at BSU right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is an amazing day, and I’m so glad that we’re doing this right here in front of all of our students, it is their day,” said Bemidji State University President John Hoffman. “You know, most of these students came here during the pandemic. So these are resilient students. They have got a lot of grit, a lot of toughness.”

“For me, it started with when COVID was still happening and it was very isolated,” said new BSU graduate Mari Grendahl. “Campus was very lonely, but we all pushed through that, made a lot of great friends, met new people and got through it. [I] wanted to be a teacher and had a lot of support along the way from family, friends, teachers, professors.”

During her time at BSU, Student Senate President Sarah Kessler says she enjoyed every second and is thankful for everything she learned along the way.

“It’s been a lot of learning, a lot of learning people’s names. There’s a lot of connections you need to make,” explained Kessler. “But it’s been really wonderful to meet students, to tell them that I’m in Senate and then they’ll say, ‘Oh, have you heard about, you know, fixing this problem?’ Or, ‘Oh, can you tell me how this is going?’ It’s been really wonderful to learn, as I’ve learned in this role, more and more about the university and the complications of higher ed to be able to help students more and more and answer their questions better.”

And since now they can finally call themselves graduates, it’s a feeling unlike any other.

“It feels amazing,” says new graduate Corrine Kain. “A sigh of relief, excitement. Just pure bliss.”

“I feel great. I feel really good,” said graduate Chris Jelinek.

“I also feel great. But a little… it’s bittersweet sad to see everyone go, but a new journey is going to begin,” added Grendahl.

“It’s pretty crazy. I think it’s going to take a while to settle in.” said Kessler. “I’m really excited for the future of Bemidji State and really excited for the future of all of our graduates. This has been a really, really wonderful, stellar class that I’ve graduated with and I’m just honored to be here.”

And even though these new graduates could enjoy some free time away from school, they can’t wait to jump into the job force.

“I know it’s going to be a long journey with that, but I’m looking forward to it,” Jelinek said.

“Going to be a teacher is going to be exciting and I love to inspire those little kids,” added Grendhal.

“They are the best of Bemidji State and what we’re all about,” stated Hoffman. “I’m just so proud and honored to be a part of their journey, and I’m excited about what they’re going to do in their lives, in their careers.”

Commencement for Northwest Technical College was also held on Friday, with Oak Hills Christian College holding their ceremony on Saturday.

Congratulations also goes out to Lakeland News interns Logan Veo and Trevor Leppanen on their graduation and accomplishments Both majored in Integrated Media, with Logan getting student of the year in that program.