168th COMMENCEMENT
Navigating life’s ‘twists and turns’
by Matt Hughes
A few short years ago, Jackson Pierce-Felker ’18 (top left) imagined a track ahead that was safe but conservative: a college close to home, a business degree and “any job that would pay enough to support my family.” Four years later, delivering the graduating class response at Bucknell’s 168th Commencement, the psychology and creative writing major from outside Washington, D.C., reflected with pride on how much he gained by straying from the obvious path.
Pierce-Felker delivered his remarks May 20 to the 868 members of Bucknell’s Class of 2018 on Malesardi Quadrangle Sunday. Among them were the inaugural 137 graduates of the University’s new Freeman College of Management, which was elevated to a college in 2017.
The student speaker’s message underscored that of Commencement speaker Jim Cramer P’18, pictured in the top right photo. The financial analyst, best-selling author and host of CNBC’s Mad Money recounted the rocky start of his own career in his forceful, mile-a-minute tenor: “Life after graduation is rarely a straight path. There are twists and turns and roadblocks and defeats, and you must know how to negotiate them as gracefully and earnestly as possible.”
Photos: Emily Paine and Tim Sofranko
The student speaker’s message underscored that of Commencement speaker Jim Cramer P’18, pictured in the top right photo. The financial analyst, best-selling author and host of CNBC’s Mad Money recounted the rocky start of his own career in his forceful, mile-a-minute tenor: “Life after graduation is rarely a straight path. There are twists and turns and roadblocks and defeats, and you must know how to negotiate them as gracefully and earnestly as possible.”
Photos: Emily Paine and Tim Sofranko
See more at bucknell.edu/commencement — including a 360° video of graduates taking the traditional stroll through the Christy Mathewson- Memorial Gateway.