KINGSTON, R.I. – Dec. 9, 2025 – Learning on the University of Rhode Island campus goes well beyond what is taught in the classroom. The overall campus experience allows students to find themselves and their true calling in life—in other words, have that “a-ha” moment.

Abby Forget, an undergraduate from Newark, Delaware, who at first wanted to pursue nutrition as a possible career, saw her focus and passion shift toward sports and helping the community at-large while at URI. In the case of graduate student Iris Ribeiro, of East Greenwich, her passion for writing has taken the former actress and current real estate professional overseas and driven her desire to better understand how neurodiverse individuals are represented in the literary world. The two have been selected to represent their class as student commencement speakers during the University’s 2025 Fall Commencement this Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Ryan Center at 10 a.m.

“In the corporate world, it’s normally about money,” Ribeiro said. “For me, studying here at URI is about furthering myself as a human being. I don’t have the corporate ladder; I’m just trying to climb the ladder of life.”

As student speakers, Ribeiro and Forget will reflect on their time at the University and share their optimism for the future with their more than 550 fellow graduates, faculty, staff and family members. 

Forget wasn’t sure what career she wanted to pursue when she arrived at URI four years ago. She initially pursued a degree in nutrition, feeling the field of sports dietetics was for her. But it was a communications course Forget took her freshman year that she fell in love with, she says.  

Forget subsequently pursued a double major and will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in sports media and communications and public relations from the URI Harrington School of Communication and Media. She’s looking to combine her love for sports with public service.

With that goal in mind, Forget became a board member for RhodyTHON, URI’s dance marathon that annually supports Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence. Along with the 10-hour main event, at which pediatric patients are honored, RhodyTHON hosts multiple fundraising events throughout the year, including dodgeball tournaments and craft nights, in support of the state’s lone children’s hospital.

Forget served as the membership director for RhodyTHON, building connections with fellow students to bolster involvement and raise awareness of the worthwhile cause. Through that, Forget also developed a passion for serving the community, she says.

“The RhodyTHON main event is a happy day and it’s special to build a relationship with those kids and their families,” Forget said. “I’ve had so many amazing experiences.”

Forget is also a founding member of URI’s Women in Sports Club, which launched in late 2024. URI didn’t have a dedicated initiative where sports media students could regularly gather as a group to collaborate until a professor presented the idea to Forget and fellow URI students to bring students together. From there, the group went into action and, now, Forget says the club provides a voice and a safe space for all who have a deep passion for sports as well as opportunities to participate in workshops and learn from guest speakers.

“The entire goal of the club is for everyone to feel seen and heard, and belong,” Forget said.

Looking back at her time at URI, Forget—a board member for the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority—says her all-time moment on campus was receiving the 2024-25 URI Greek Life Leader of the Year Award this past April. The gratification and appreciation for her leadership work on campus from the URI community is something she won’t forget.

Forget, currently working within the Brown University athletics department in Providence, hopes to attend graduate school to further her education. During her commencement remarks she plans to share with her fellow graduates insights on how to live in the moment, whether the experiences are good or otherwise.

“Don’t let yourself miss out on things because you’re anxious or stressed,” Forget said. “Also, kindness is No. 1 and being purposeful in your actions. Do things because you truly feel it.”

Ribeiro’s journey back to academia was a bit of a long one. She began attending URI to pursue her Master of Arts degree in English two years ago—12 years after earning her bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Hawaii. In between, Ribeiro has been a marketing specialist, owned her own real estate firm—Craft Realty LLC—and starred in front of the camera in multiple Lifetime movies.

But the desire for writing always burned in Ribeiro, she says, which led her to URI. Her interest in neuro novels—books where neurological conditions are central to their plots—is based on being a mother of twin daughters, both of whom are neurodiverse, she says.

While at URI, Ribeiro began reevaluating fictional characters, including those written by Charles Dickens, to learn more about how neurodiverse people fit into literary works. It allowed Ribero to present a paper that’s part of her master’s portfolio at the Beyond Labels International Conference for Disability, Different Ability and Neurodiversity in London in September. It also allowed Ribeiro to showcase her passion on a global stage, much ado to her honing her skills at the University.

“What I realized at URI is that there is a world outside of this bubble we sometimes live in,” Ribeiro said. “Sometimes, when you’re surrounded by big thinkers and thought leaders, you just push limits and find things that didn’t exist until you put yourself in this environment. Education took me to London this year, so I’m going to continue to push the limits to see where else it can take me.”

During commencement, Ribeiro will share her thoughts on how people are defined by an accumulation of moments and opportunities they take to connect with others. While being strong academically is critical for long-term success, Riberio says it’s how one makes people feel that could either keep them at status quo or catapult them to their next great moment. Ribeiro plans to submit her master’s thesis to an academic journal for publication and create short stories that could lead to a neuro novel.

Ribeiro’s first day on the Kingston Campus two years ago was her favorite moment at URI, calling it her “new beginning” and transforming her into a better version of herself, she recalled. Having the mindset of looking at education with a fresh perspective allowed Ribeiro to reach high in the classroom, and build relationships with her peers and professors, she says.

“I felt like I was welcomed in this community and one of the biggest qualities about URI is how inclusive it is,” Ribeiro said. “URI makes this an important aspect to understand different types of learners and everyone having their voice heard.”

For more information on fall commencement, visit uri.edu/commencement.