When Katy Anderson takes center stage as this year’s student commencement speaker for Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters ceremony, it will come as a surprise to her mom.
“I haven’t told my mom. I thought it would be fun to surprise her,” Anderson said. “I am super close with my mom, and I know she will wonder why I am up on stage, but I think it will be one last fun thing to do before I graduate.”
Anderson will share her surprise in the beginning of her speech. And who could blame her for wanting to have some fun and to celebrate in a big way. For her and so many other members of the Class of 2024, this graduation will be extra special as it will be the first time they will truly experience all the pomp and circumstance of commencement. Many of the Class of 2024 are 2020 high school graduates who didn’t have in-person graduation ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For my high school graduation, I sat in my basement and watched it on YouTube,” Anderson said. “This will actually be my first graduation I’m attending, and I am speaking at it!”
“For college, I wanted to do everything in my power to make an impact on my community. I wanted to leave college with no regrets and to take as many opportunities as possible.”
The College of Arts & Letters commencement ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, April 28, at 9 a.m. at the Breslin Student Events Center. Anderson is graduating with a double major in English for Secondary Education and Psychology. She also has a teaching minor in Psychology and is a graduate of the Honors College. She is graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA, which has earned her the prestigious Board of Trustees Award.
“I feel like I didn’t leave my mark on my high school,” Anderson said. “So, for college, I wanted to do everything in my power to make an impact on my community. I wanted to leave college with no regrets and to take as many opportunities as possible.”
Being the 2024 College of Arts & Letters student commencement speaker is one more opportunity Anderson has seized.
“My overarching goal with my speech is to celebrate the Class of 2024 and all their successes and talents,” Anderson said. “The Class of 2024 is such a resilient group of people. I’ve seen such wonderful things that this group of people have accomplished, and I feel like we’ve overcome so much. I want to celebrate our accomplishments as well as the joy and love we have found in the community at MSU — despite all odds.”
During her time at MSU, Anderson has kept true to her commitment to make an impact on her community and to leave her mark.
This past year, she has student taught at East Lansing High School. She also helped run an after-school creative writing club at McDonald Middle School.
“I loved running that,” Anderson said. “I lesson planned with my cohort. We all helped plan that, and our students published their writing journals. Being able to hand them their published work and celebrate writing has been the best experience.”
“The Class of 2024 is such a resilient group of people. I’ve seen such wonderful things that this group of people have accomplished, and I feel like we’ve overcome so much. I want to celebrate our accomplishments as well as the joy and love we have found in the community at MSU.”
Anderson also was the Co-Chair of the Impulse Dance Team, worked for MSU’s Undergraduate Research Office doing social media and communications, and served as President of the student affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) at MSU for the past two years. Under Anderson’s leadership, that organization was the only NCTE student affiliate in the country to receive this year’s NCTE Student Affiliate Excellence Award. This was the seventh year in a row the MSU organization has won that award.
“When you look at how many NCTE student organizations there are across the country, and we were the only one to receive that recognition this year. It was just incredible,” Anderson said. “Also, this year was the first time we were able to receive that award in person, which felt so much different than being sent it online via email.”
Another opportunity that Anderson seized during her time at MSU was to do a study abroad to the UK last summer as part of the Literature to London program. The six-week program revolved around literature in Europe, where students went to Oxford and other places in the United Kingdom.
“That was one of the best parts of my entire college experience,” Anderson said. “Being able to read the books and then go to where these authors lived, immersing yourself in that kind of context was just so cool. It made me consider teaching or doing grad school abroad.”
“These past two years have really shown me the full extent of what college is and how impactful that is. It taught me to never take those kinds of things, like in-person classes, for granted.”
Within the past two years as things have gotten back to normal as much as possible since the COVID-19 pandemic first began, Anderson has learned to appreciate the normalcy a bit more.
“These past two years have really shown me the full extent of what college is and how impactful that is,” she said. “It taught me to never take those kinds of things, like in-person classes, for granted.”
Anderson will be student teaching both English and Psychology at City Middle School in Grand Rapids during the 2024-2025 academic year. She is among the last cohort of MSU students having to complete a five-year education program.
With a passion for English and writing since she can remember, Anderson said she hopes to inspire others.
“I have always wanted to teach because I have always wanted to help people,” she said. “I have had teachers who were super supportive and really helped me get through tough times, and I just want to be that person in someone else’s life. I also really hope to transform the way students view reading and writing. That is my biggest goal in life. If I can make one student enjoy reading or one student want to write and share their stories, I would feel like I was successful in life.”
