Caitlin Runyon was suffering from sophomore slump when she walked through the Ram’s Den one day and saw a fellow student sitting alone in the depths of sadness. So she sat down to talk with him, and the ensuing conversation changed both of their lives. Caitlin decided to get more involved on campus, and her lunch partner shook off his homesickness and began to thrive.

At this year’s graduation ceremony, Caitlin—now well out of her slump—will be the student commencement speaker, addressing about 15,000 people, including roughly 3,000 fellow graduates.

“Becoming the student commencement speaker is a great way to wrap up my experiences at URI,” Caitlin said. “I have been asked many times why I want to be the student speaker, and it is because I love public speaking. I will never say that public speaking is easy for me; I am always nervous, but I love a challenge, especially one that involves communicating and speaking.”

Caitlin incorporated her public speaking ability into a leadership studies minor. During her years at URI, she also traveled far and wide for volunteer work and to feed her desire to help others.

Last summer she traveled to Austria to participate in the Salzburg Academy on Global Media and Social Change, where she worked with peers from around the world to develop media-based solutions for the United Nations, Red Cross and Global Voices.  Over spring break, she worked for Habitat for Humanity in Santa Fe, rebuilding houses and working for food depots.

After graduation, Caitlin will run a 4K for Cancer, a 49-day, 4,000-mile relay from San Francisco to Baltimore, to raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund for young adults. She hopes to eventually teach and work abroad, and she can see herself one day going back to college to pursue a master’s degree in higher education.