UGA Class of 2025 spreads its wings and learns to fly

Jarryd Wallace, keynote speaker as well as four-time Paralympian and two-time bronze medalist, shared lessons he learned from the tests he’s faced during UGA’s undergraduate Commencement ceremony held May 9.

“That’s what trials do — they forge something in us that comfort never could. They teach us to keep going when nothing makes sense. To believe when hope feels distant. To see ourselves not by what we’ve lost, but by who we’re becoming,” Wallace said.

Wallace, who received his bachelor’s degree from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences in 2019, came to UGA on a track scholarship. While he was a student-athlete, complications from compartment syndrome changed his plans, requiring his leg to be amputated from the knee down.