Editor’s note: Commencements require tickets for admission. To attend, contact Julia Ann Easley in advance at jaeasley@ucdavis.edu.

Shanlea “Sen” Tabofunda of Cupertino, California, set a goal for their first year at the University of California, Davis: learning to ride a bike without using their hands.

Tabofunda accomplished that and so much more during their time at UC Davis. In a commencement speech Saturday, they will use a biking metaphor to highlight how we need others to find balance in our lives.

“In the face of all the challenges these past few years have thrown at us … the one thing that we’ve learned we can always rely on, is each other,” they wrote in their draft speech.

Tabofunda is one of five students selected to address the university’s undergraduate commencements at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center Friday through Sunday (June 13-15).

The others are Alexa Kwan of Santa Clara, California; Krystle Catamura of San Jose, California; Nikhita Toleti of Windermere, Florida; and Hala Al Saidali of Marina, California.

Finding balance

9 a.m. Saturday — Shanlea “Sen” Tabofunda, Bachelor of Science in neurobiology, physiology and behavior with a minor in sociology.

Tabofunda has been an undergraduate researcher in labs exploring how pollutants, especially those we inhale, harm the brain. They have co-authored an academic paper and presented research at the annual meeting of an academic society.

Tabofunda was also this year’s chief of staff at the Joan Viteri Memorial Clinic in Sacramento, which provides free primary medical care for underserved populations, including those who use intravenous drugs, work in the sex trade or identify as transgender.

“It was the most fulfilling thing I did,” said Tabofunda. “I’m playing a role in helping people get the life-saving care they need.”

They are one of the 2024-25 recipients of the Karim Abou Najm Memorial Change-Makers Prize, which recognizes high-achieving undergraduates who have pursued skills and experiences beyond their coursework to have a positive impact on the world.

Tabofunda said they are grateful for those who encouraged them to do more and who picked them up when they fell. “Finding your balance is not one specific point. Throughout your life your priorities will shift,” they said. “Having friends and people to support you helps you find balance time and time again.”

Tabofunda plans to work in a research setting for two years before starting a medical degree or medical and doctoral degree program.

Lining up that next relationship

9 a.m. Friday — Alexa Kwan, Bachelor of Arts in economics.

It’s not surprising that Kwan successfully negotiated higher pay for her first job out of college as a global compensation analyst at Marvell Technology in Santa Clara. She had interned at the company for six months, had other job offers, and co-founded and served as president of the Human Resources Management Association at UC Davis.

“Negotiation, that’s what we try to teach in the club I started,” said Kwan, who finished her degree in December and started her job in January.

During her studies, Kwan also served as director of finance for Davis Women in Business, a student organization promoting professional development including career direction and networking.

Originally aspiring to be a certified public accountant, Kwan pivoted to human resources when an internship in the field helped her discover her calling. “I get to tell stories with data and make recommendations based on data and trends,” she said.

In her speech, Kwan will compare the college years to dating. She said that some Aggies have already lined up their next relationship — a job, graduate school or a big move. She said it’s OK that others are still figuring it out. “If college has taught us anything,” she wrote in the draft, “it’s that we are never just one thing. We are the sum of every challenge we overcame, every late-night conversation that changed our perspective, and every person who left a mark on us.”

In the job search, Kwan said, there may be setbacks. “You have to repurpose those nos. You have to use that as fuel and fire to keep you going. What can I do differently? What can I change next time?”

Kwan plans to eventually earn an MBA and start her own human resources consulting business.

Overcoming the imposter syndrome

2 p.m. Friday — Krystle Catamura, Bachelor of Science in civil engineering with minors in construction engineering and management, and sustainability in the built environment.

Once, Catamura didn’t believe in her abilities. She thought she was an imposter among the talented students at UC Davis. But with her mother’s encouragement, she responded to a part-time job listing shared by her college. Catamura got the job and since summer 2023 has been an outreach intern with the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District.

Catamura said she has worked alongside generous people and learned so much. “Without that opportunity, I wouldn’t have realized how much I could grow.”

She developed and led a youth education program about wastewater, got involved in a project to enhance flood and fire protection, and worked on climate resiliency projects. Through her work, she’s also won scholarships and spoken at meetings of professional associations.

As a young Filipina, Catamura was inspired by the advice she received from another Filipina engineer, also in the first generation of her family to graduate from college: “Whenever you question whether or not you belong or you find yourself in a room where you feel you need to work harder to prove yourself — you are never alone. Me and so many other people, just like you, are fighting the same battle right beside you.”

Catamura, who started a student organization to encourage students in science, technology, engineering and math to be advocates and activists in political arenas, said she wants graduates to hold to their idealism. “Maybe it’s not about witnessing the abolition of systems that still pose hardships and challenges to us today,” she wrote in her draft speech. “But maybe it’s about trusting that the work we put in now will result in change later.”   

Catamura will soon start as an engineering intern with the district, and she plans to enroll this fall in the master’s program in civil engineering at UC Davis.

A goodbye with gratitude

2 p.m. Saturday — Nikhita Toleti, Bachelor of Science in cognitive science.

Toleti teared up talking about her commencement speech as her goodbye and thank you to the campus community that became her second home and helped her grow.

“It’s really hard being away from home, and then you make friends,” said Toleti, whose family home is nearly 2,500 miles away.

She credits Adi, her younger brother, with introducing her to UC Davis. Now 20, he was diagnosed with autism at 3, and the family looked to the UC Davis MIND Institute — a center for research, clinical care and education related to autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions — for information and resources.

Originally planning on a career as a doctor, Toleti got involved with the PLASMA student startup program at UC Davis and discovered her passion for entrepreneurship. She and a partner developed an application for caregivers that took home two prizes in the 2022 Little Bang! Pitch + Poster Competition at UC Davis.

Toleti has served as entrepreneurship head, president of and now adviser to Neurotech, a student organization exploring the convergence of neurology and technology. Through her leadership with the group, she emceed a UC-wide neurotechnology conference hosted by UC Davis.

At the university, Toleti better connected with her Indian culture and found community. She served on the board of the Indian Student Association and interacted with students in the Redwood SEED Scholars Program, a college experience for California students with intellectual disabilities.

Now with a passion for entrepreneurship, Toleti plans to resume work at Care.ai, a company founded by her father to put artificial intelligence to work in health care.

A refugee’s thoughts on resiliency

9 a.m. Sunday— Hala Al Saidali, Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences.

Al Saidali will use her experience as a refugee of the Syrian civil war and daughter of a criticially ill father to encourage her fellow graduates to be resilient. One of them is her fraternal twin sister, Zena, who is graduating with the same major.

Al Saidali was 8 when a bomb went off in her neighborhood in Damascus. Within a year, her family fled Syria, spent four years in Egypt and in 2016 came to the United States. They eventually settled in Marina, California. 

As a student at Monterey Peninsula College, Al Saidali began following UC Davis’ Arab Student Union (ASU) on social media and, when she transferred to the university, quickly found friends and community.

Al Saidali was an intern with the Middle Eastern North African and South Asian student resource center and later served as social coordinator of the ASU. Planning to apply for dental school, she co-founded MENA Med, an organization to help students of Middle Eastern and North African heritage explore careers in health fields.

Her understanding of resilience was also shaped by her experience following her father’s diagnosis with a critical illness. “It’s not about always being strong — it’s about staying present, grounded and loving, even when the outcome is uncertain.”

Al Saidali said members of the class of 2025 — most of whom came of age during the global COVID-19 pandemic — have demonstrated perseverance by earning their degrees, and the world they are stepping into needs their flexibility, empathy and grit.

“May we remember resilience isn’t just surviving the hard days — it’s the way we choose to live, love and lead even in the face of them,” she wrote in her draft speech. “So let’s keep showing up — with purpose, with fire and with a quiet strength that no one can take from us.”

Student speaker selection

Graduating students apply to speak at commencement by submitting a draft speech and a video demonstrating their presentation style. A 14-member committee of faculty, staff and students selects the speakers after finalists deliver their speeches in person.

Other commencements

The undergraduate commencements are among the last of 13 in the spring graduation season, which began in May. The other remaining ceremonies, all on the Davis campus, are:

• Wednesday — School of Education, 4 p.m., Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
• Thursday — Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, 10 a.m., Mondavi Center
• Thursday — Graduate Studies, for master's students, 10 a.m., University Credit Union Center
• Thursday — Graduate Studies, for Master of Fine Arts and doctoral students, 3 p.m., University Credit Union Center
• Friday — Graduate School of Management, 10 a.m., University Credit Union Center