As the announcer called each graduate to the podium, cheers echoed and bounced throughout UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion – a call and response among family and friends there to celebrate the UCLA Extension Certificate Graduation Ceremony. Approximately 900 students gathered to receive their accolades surrounded by an audience of 5,000 watching from the rafters, marking a day of milestones that was sure to be a lasting memory for all.

“It takes a person with tenacity and drive to achieve what you have,” said Eric Bullard, dean of UCLA Extension. “You are taking a first step on an entirely new path, pushing further your expertise in a field that holds fascination and striving for new heights of success.

“Today marks the end of this particular journey and the receipt of your professional certificate, which serves as a testament to the knowledge and specialized skillset you have achieved at UCLA Extension. It will long signify that you took the time to learn something new, to grow and change. And though that belongs to you alone, let’s take a moment to reflect on the people who helped you get to this point: your parents, friends, partners, siblings, instructors and classmates – everyone who supported you in this journey. Though they may not have the formal credential at the end of this journey, their pride in your achievements will be worn as a badge of honor as well.”

UCLA Extension boasts almost 35,000 active students per year participating in more than 100 certificate programs. Students from across the country and globe graduated in a diverse array of specialties that include accounting, business, education, engineering, entertainment, health care, law and writing.

As students traveled from the staging ground at the Los Angeles Tennis Center, through a tunnel and out onto the floor of Pauley Pavilion, the mood was jubilant. Students shielded their eyes as they looked up into the stands, taking a moment to spot their families before they sat down in the crowd of their fellow graduates. A young girl held a graduation day stuffed Bruin on her shoulders next to her father holding flowers. Both waved down to her graduating mother.

They were there to indulge and revere. Bullard gave way to the recipient of the 2025 UCLA Extension Professional Achievement Award, Terri Hines, executive vice president, communications for FOX Sports, and keynote speaker.

“Good afternoon to everyone here today, hearts full of pride, maybe a few butterflies in your stomach, but you made it, you’re here,” she said. “Congratulations.”

Hines exalted the “power of the pivot,” citing her own career change that landed her at FOX, while also regaling the crowd with her story of the “longest commute my school had ever seen” – 3,000 miles between Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles to complete her graduate education.

“The pivot is powerful not because it is easy but because it pushes us past our comfort and that, graduates, is where the real growth begins,” she said. “Every person in this room has pivoted. Maybe it was a career change, a pandemic epiphany, a moment of inspiration or maybe you already have your degree, a job, you have a plan, and still something inside you said I’m not done. And you listened. You stepped into the unknown.”

Hines consistently acknowledged the supportive crowd and commended the graduates for taking an important next step in their journeys.

“If no one around you has done it before, good, be the blueprint: for your family, for your community, for your younger self who couldn’t even picture you sitting at graduation today, for the version of you who never gave up even when it got hard, but trust me, it will get hard again. But keep going.”

Ahead of the ceremony, Adrian Brisco reflected on just that. The newly minted finance graduate said he was excited to put his gained knowledge to work in his own business ventures, digging into the books, but that he was even more proud to serve as inspiration for his family.

“I have two kids. One actually just enrolled at a university. And I just wanted them to see me do this,” he said. “So they can see that even with all the responsibilities I have I made it, so there’s no reason for them not to be able to succeed.”

It is that drive to continue to learn that is at the heart of UCLA Extension’s mission statement, Bullard reminded the audience.

“I invite you to never stop learning,” he said. “Lifelong learning is a critical part of your life and journey ahead. And as you already know, acquisition of knowledge and the pursuit of dreams does not stop just because you are no longer in a classroom.”