Brescia holds commencement at RiverPark Center

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Duda Feres hadn't thought about being the student speaker during Brescia University's undergraduate commencement Saturday morning at the RiverPark Center until she got a little prodding from friends.
But as she prepared to enter the facility's Cannon Hall with her classmates, she was thankful to have the opportunity.
'This year the student government association president was not a senior, so they decided to come up with an application process, and my friends were like Duda, you should apply,' she said. 'Honestly, I'm glad they told me to do that, because I had such a good time here at Brescia, and I've been involved in so many things.'
Feres, who is from Brazil and played soccer for Brescia, said one of the aspects of her college career that stood out was how at home she always felt.
'As soon as I stepped here, everyone was really welcoming; people actually care about us,' she said. 'My friends, all of the professors, the staff, they're really warm with you.
'There is a sense of community. It's a small school, everyone knows everyone, but even though it's a small school, the diversity is so big. I've met so many people from different cultures, people I'm going to take with me forever.'
Feres, who double majored in business and psychology, used her speech to talk about how students from so many different backgrounds create the Brescia community.
'It's a mix of my own culture and how that applies here, and how we all came from different places and had to go through so many things, but ended up here for a reason,' she said. 'You were meant to be here, and what we lived was almost unexplainable.'
Feres has decided to stay at Brescia for another year to earn her Master of Business Administration.
'I love it too much,' she said of the school. 'I have to stay around.'
Daniel Rusiecki, who earned degrees in English and psychology, arrived at Brescia from Florida to play basketball and quickly found a second family.
'The thing that stands out is the community; I've always said it feels like a family here,' he said. 'I came from Florida, and finding this community that accepts me and actually wants to make me engage with it, it's probably one of the best things I'll always remember about this campus.
'The way they surround you with their energy, no one wants to leave anyone behind. The people around here is what really made my experience.'
Rusiecki said he's honored to be a part of Brescia's tradition.
'It means the world,' he said, 'knowing there are a lot of people who have come before me, and the fact I'm able to do this now at this level and make the people who came before me proud, it just means a lot.'
Rusiecki will pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting from Western Kentucky University. He wants to be a film director and writer.
'When I was a kid my mom had heart problems, so I always wanted to be a heart surgeon,' he said. 'But my sophomore year of high school I got into a film class, and from there I've always wanted to go into movie making.'
While Feres and Rusiecki praised the time they spent on campus, graduate Irene Wainaina was seeing the school — and Owensboro — for the first time this weekend, as she had taken classes through its online program from her home in Seattle.
'I had looked everywhere, but I really wanted an online-only program, and this was the only school that I could find that did strictly online,' she said. 'It worked out amazing, with amazing teachers.'
Wainaina earned a degree in social work and wants to be a counselor.
'This means everything,' she said of graduating. 'It means my daughter gets to see me graduate, it means my family gets to see me graduate, and it means I kept a promise to my dad when he was dying.
'This was the last promise I made to him. So it means a lot.'