EAST LANSING, Mich. — Thousands of Spartans walked into the Breslin Center on Saturday—getting their diplomas and reflecting on their years here at Michigan State University.
- MSU graduates reflect on their college experience, family support, and what it means to be part of the Spartan community.
- Both first-generation and legacy Spartans shared their pride and offered advice to the next class as they crossed the stage at the Breslin Center.
- Watch the video below to see how Spartan graduates are celebrating.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
“It feels great. It feels like a long time coming,” said Jaeda Loving, MSU graduate.
Graduates like Loving were joined by family to celebrate.
“They encouraged me, they motivated me to go and do the same thing, and we are a family—a Spartan family,” Loving said.
And a Spartan family is something that Ella Krause can echo.
“I’m about to graduate, he graduated from here, my parents—my mom and dad—went here, my grandpa went here, so we’ve got three generations, and we just love it here,” Krause said.
Krause reflects back on her years and the times she’s overcome while in college.
“My freshman year started with a little bit of COVID stuff. We had masks, it was a little hard to socialize, but we made it through—made some good friends by joining some organizations,” she said.
While plenty of graduates are from Michigan or nearby, some came a long way and are the first Spartans in their family.
“Got my family here from Washington, D.C.—really nice for them to come out,” said Nolan Thornell, MSU graduate.
Thornell found the Spartan community after visiting campus.
“Toured here, it looked like a fun campus, good sports. It was a little bit of a shot in the dark, but it worked out great,” Thornell said.
And for incoming freshmen making the same choice as these graduates, Loving left this piece of advice.
“Focus on school. I know everybody says that, but seriously—those four years, we thought we had all the time in the world, and I’m telling you, it feels like we moved in, on Schneider, yesterday. It goes by really fast, so I just really say, school is first,” said Loving.
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