Elin Nordegren named college valedictorian, her commencement speech is amazing

NailTamie Haziran 07, 2021

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Tiger Woods’ ex wife, Elin Nordegren, only gave one single interview, a print interview to People, during and following her very high profile split. This woman’s behavior in the wake of her husband’s scandal was the very definition of taking the high road. So that’s why it’s notable that she made a couple of references to Tiger, albeit veiled and humorous, in her college graduation speech. Elin graduated from Florida’s Rollins College program over the weekend. She was named Outstanding Graduating Senior, which is the college’s equivalent to valedictorian. She had a 3.96 GPA and is a psychology major. It took her 9 years to graduate because she went part time in the evenings in order to focus on being a mom to her two young kids.

Rollins College didn’t just name Elin valedictorian for her star factor, although that may have helped. The assistant dean said that Elin worked incredibly hard and earned it on her merits. “Elin’s application spoke to the determination of a single mom to complete her degree Faculty members spoke of her academic curiosity, personal drive, and classroom engagement in their recommendations. She is also very active in outside service initiatives that benefit children in the foster care system.” Rollins has a Q&A with Elin on their website, and she clearly loved studying there and is passionate about her education. It’s worth noting that Elin is Swedish, and that English is her second language, so she had to work harder to write papers and communicate in print. She said that she received help from other students in the college’s writing center.

Here’s some of what Elin said during her speech, a video of which is below:

On being criticized for not giving interviews:
When I received a phone call informing me about the honor of speaking today, I felt really happy but I also was a little surprised, because I’ve been called a ‘woman of no words’ in the media and criticized for not talking very much. A commencement speech is meant to inspire and when I started to think of what I should say to you all today I got a little scared. Because what words could I used to inspire us all after a long journey through college?

She once got a note from a flight attendant that said “Thank you for being my inspiration – from a single mom”
I felt touched by those words from a complete stranger. Since I’ve done so little public speaking how exactly had I inspired her? Whatever the answer, I felt a connection with her that day, mother to mother and I was inspired by her action to make a connection to me. And I also feel a connection with all of you today, my educational community here at Rollins college. We have all dreamed of earning our college degree and today we actualized those dreams. We didn’t just talk about getting a degree, we did it… your actions, my fellow graduates, inspired me…

On when she started her education
When I entered my student advisor office in the fall of 2005, I was 25 years old, I had just recently moved to America, I was married without children. Today, nine years later, I’m a proud American, and I have two beautiful children [crowd claps] but I’m no longer married. [laughs]

On being impressed by her hard working fellow students
When you told me stories about your full time day jobs, about coming home to cook dinner for your families and about making sure your children were cared for while attending classes, you inspired me… whatever obstacle I was facing at the time, your stories helped me put things in perspective.

On how her classes were relevant to her life
While I was taking developmental psychology, my daughter… was born… It was in [my] Strategies for Changemakers class that really opened my eyes to philathropy and the difference one person can make in a community, and it was right after I had taken Communication in the Media, I was unexpectedly struck into the media limelight and I probably should have taken more notes in that class. My Psychology in Law class helped me through some of the most challenging times in my life that involved legal matters. The information not only helped me understand the complexity of the legal system, but it also offered me a place of peace in the wild storm of my personal life.

She values her education highly
I have also realized that education has been the only consistent part of my life for the last 9 years, and it has offered me comfort, because education is the one thing that no one can take away from you.

My hope is that today I’m showing my children, Sam and Charlie (who is sleeping in his chair) that it is never to late to follow your dream. They, along with my mother and father, are my greatest teachers of all, because they’ve shown me the incredible power of love. I want to acknowledge all the mothers who are graduating today… and watching their children graduate. We know the enormous strength required to be a parent while pursuing your college degree or to support your children while they attend college.

Every single day we each have an opportunity to keep on learning and to infuse the learning with meaning. I believe we each have an opportunity to pass on the importance of education to our children and future graduations. Today, my fellow graduates, we have persevered and we have shown that we can take actions with our dreams and values.

This is a woman who gets it, who understands that she comes from a place of extreme privilege and who still works hard to better herself, and to help others in her community. You get the sense that she cares, and that she tried to weather her personal storm the best she could, by keeping it all in perspective and by focusing on things that mattered. I was so impressed by Elin’s speech and by her story. After watching her speech I want to go back to college.

Here’s video of Elin’s commencement speech. She comes on at 2:40 and her joke about Tiger starts at 5:20.