BSU gave me that support system to feel like I can move on and find the next chapter in my life. Without Bridgewater, I never would have found that support to make these decisions for my future.
When Julianna Sances, ’26, wondered about her future and whether she would be successful in life, she didn’t have far to look for reassurance. As a BSU student, she found encouragement in close friends and supportive faculty.
“BSU gave me that support system to feel like I can move on and find the next chapter in my life,” the English major said. “Without Bridgewater, I never would have found that support to make these decisions for my future.”
This fall, Julianna will study popular fiction writing and publishing in graduate school at Emerson College. But first, she will share a final message with her Bridgewater State University classmates.
As the student speaker for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences commencement, she will address thousands of people from the stage of the Xfinity Center in Mansfield.
“I’ve always had something to say,” she said. “The thought of giving that message to so many people is overwhelming and scary, but I’m also really excited and thankful.”
Julianna will reflect on an undergraduate experience in which she grew both academically and socially. In a film and philosophy course, she met classmates who became some of her closest friends. She developed as a singer through lessons with Albert Craig and discovered new ways of thinking about the world in Dr. Joyce Rain Anderson’s class on Indigenous cultures.
“Professor Anderson has taught me so much, but also expanded my perspectives in so many ways,” she said. “I’m so thankful for her tutelage.”
Anderson, an English faculty member who taught Julianna in several classes, was thrilled to learn her mentee had been named the student commencement speaker.
“Julianna brings so much energy to a class through her personality and intellect,” Anderson said. “In my Writing about Writing course, she and three other students formed an immediate bond, and while they would talk socially, they took the work of the class seriously. She would often walk in and ask the others, ‘so what did you think about what we read?’ and conversation ensued.”
Julianna’s biggest supporter is her mother, Donna, who didn’t attend college and had no one to encourage her to dream bigger.
“She never felt that was something she could do,” Julianna said. “Fast forward, and now she’s the person inspiring me to reach for more and pursue higher education.”
Despite a strong network of family, friends, and professors, Julianna still sometimes questioned if she was good enough. It’s a concern she shares with many of her peers, and one she plans to address in her speech.
“Even if you don’t get the award or trophy, you still succeed by just being a good person,” she said. “I hope people take that with them as they venture out into the world.”
Do you have a BSU story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu.