Sandra Ilona Napolitano will cross the stage at the University of South Florida’s commencement ceremony on Dec. 12, earning her Bachelor of Arts in criminology with minors in deaf studies and intelligence studies. But before she accepts her diploma, she’ll address her graduating class as the ceremony’s student speaker.
Napolitano said she feels excited and honored to represent her fellow graduates.
“This moment belongs to the entire graduating class, and I wanted the speech to reflect that,” she said. “So, I spent time thinking about the shared challenges, the unexpected turns and the small victories that so many of us experienced, even if the details looked different for each person.”
In addition to her academic accomplishments, Napolitano helped launch the Honors College podcast and contributed to more than 70 episodes.
A King O’Neal Scholar and a member of the Judy Genshaft Honors College’s inaugural cohort of Wilcox Scholars, Napolitano earned the speaker role after interviewing with a selection committee that included the commencement director, the deputy chief of staff, an alumni representative, and the Student Government president. As part of the interview, each candidate delivered their proposed remarks.
A central theme of Napolitano’s speech is the idea that the college experience is built on a series of small, steady steps.
“It struck me that the only way I moved forward was by taking things piece by piece,” she said. “So many students carry quiet pressure to have everything figured out immediately. But most of us learned to just keep moving forward, even when the next step was the only thing we could see clearly. That’s really where the theme came from, wanting to capture the reality of how we grow, how we persevere and how we get to moments like graduation.”
To prepare for her big moment on stage, Napolitano has been refining her speech — revising, trimming, reading it aloud and ensuring it remains authentic.
“I’ve been thinking about the moments and people who shaped my time here and how to weave those pieces into something that resonates with the whole class. When the day comes, I want to be fully present and focus on connecting with the audience rather than worrying about the mechanics.”
After graduation, Napolitano will continue in her full-time role at the Tampa Police Department as a public safety telecommunicator and will begin a master’s program in global security at Johns Hopkins University in the spring.
Reflecting on what it means to stand before her classmates, she added: “Everyone walking across that stage has their own story, their own challenges and their own victories. To be the one standing up there, speaking on behalf of all those students with their own experiences, is something I’m incredibly grateful for. It makes me want to do right by my classmates and capture even a small piece of what this journey has meant for each of us, no matter what it looked or felt like.”