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Text: Maryville College senior class President Mackenzie Wright ’24’s Baccalaureate remarks to the Class of 2024

Photo of Maryville College senior class President Mackenzie Wright delivering her remarks during the Class of 2024 Baccalaureate sermon
Mackenzie Wright ’24, president of the senior class, delivers the office’s traditional remarks during the Class of 2024 Baccalaureate service on May 3, 2024, in the Clayton Center for the Arts.

May 3, 2024

Mackenzie Wright ’24, president of the senior class of Maryville College, delivered the traditional remarks from that office to the Class of 2024 during Baccalaureate on May 3, 2024. Here is the full text of her remarks.

I started writing this speech on November 11. It was 1:33 a.m., and I was lying awake, confident in my abilities to pull an all-nighter. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of bittersweet memories from my time at Maryville. This is not an abnormal feeling. I went home after the last graduation and cried about leaving MC a whole year in advance. But when I think about my time at Maryville College ending it is arguably the strongest emotion I have ever felt.

Maryville College is such a small community, but it is mighty. The great thing about being a Scot is that it is a lifelong achievement and an induction into a culture that spans all across the world. But this class, the Class of 2024, is especially important. Having been the most recent class to start college with no resources for connection and being forced to distance ourselves from each other. This class really found a way to come together.

The pride of being a Scot is something I will take with me for the rest of my life. But if I am being honest, I am not sure that I am ready to go.

 I know that we have been prepared for this moment and we have counted down the days. But it is hard to think that in such a short time, less than 24 hours, our time at MC will officially be over.

Maryville College has been a place of opportunity, passion, hope, safety, and discovery for all of us at some point or another. Some people here are saying goodbye to their lifelong sports, their favorite professors, their friends, their family, their lives for the last 4 years. And although we have such an adventure ahead of us, for the next few moments, we are still students. So, before we leave, I want to give all of us together for one of the last times, a few pieces of advice from the lessons that Maryville has taught me.

  1. Stay open minded. When I first toured Maryville College, it was a week before covid hit. I ate in Pearsons, went to a Psychology 101 class taught by Dr. Shiba, and I did my choir audition. The next day when I met up with my family and we were doing our tour, I turned to my mom and I said “I do NOT want to go here.” I felt like everyone was on their best behavior for the prospective student and it was not a realistic experience. After touring other schools and talking to my grandparents, who were Maryville College Alumni, I decided I was going to go to MC after all. And in the cheesiest way possible I am so glad I did. If I had been stubborn in that decision, I would have missed out on four years of my favorite memories. My mom often says she knew I was going to end up here the whole time.
  2. Everything happens for a reason. Freshman year, I ran for class president. I lost. I ran for chief justice sophomore year. I lost. I tried one more time to go for senior class president, I was blessed with a win. I know everyone here today will experience some tough losses in their life. But I encourage you to look for the lesson in each one of those loses. Choose a life of gratitude and joy if not for anything but your own peace.
  3. And finally, my last piece of advice to us as a class, is to please stay in touch. Even if it is a slight comment on social media or a random text when you tell a story from your time here, stay connected. Because without the community that is Maryville College, being a SCOT would not mean what it does and leaving would not be as hard as it is right now.

I wouldn’t be here today or have learned any of those lesson if it wasn’t for God. Every lesson I have learned was because he lit the way, and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for all of us after we graduate.

With that being said, I’ll see you all tomorrow morning bright and early, for one last time together and I thank you for allowing me to represent our class not just tomorrow but today and every day so far.

Thank you, and Go Scots.

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”