The Outstanding Student Medal award is presented each spring to an undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral student completing their degree in the College of Education.
Faculty members of the College of Education nominate students who they believe display a superior level of scholarship within their departments and programs; offer their time and service to the College, campus, or community; and show promise as potential leaders in the education field.
The views and opinions expressed in these speeches are those of the awardees and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of the College of Education and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Destiny Williams-Dobosz is this year's doctoral degree Outstanding Student Medal recipient. In April, Destiny successfully delivered her Ph.D. dissertation defense in Educational Psychology—specifically, in the Cognitive Science of Teaching and Learning Division. Her speech:
You did it! No more delayed gratification! We made it y'all! Now is not the time to be quiet but to celebrate and eat the fruit of years of sustained, deep-focused labor. My name is Dr. Destiny Williams-Dobosz, and I am honored to be this year’s Outstanding Doctoral Student Medalist.
I have been thinking about what to say today and how I want to show up. Ain’t no code-switching today. This joy that I have, no one can take away. Today, I am coming to you authentically as a Black woman, first-generation college student, psychologist, mother, mentor, doctor, and human. One primary goal I have for this time we’re sharing is to facilitate our collective joy. Today, is a socio-cognitive exchange of celebration. I want your parasympathetic nervous system to remember this moment, so you reach back down when the doubt and discouragement come. In the classroom, I facilitate knowledge transfer. So today is about joy transfer, alchemy, celebration, and hope.
My advice for the class of 2025 is to cultivate joy and hope. Responsively and fiercely steward your passions, gifts, and craft.
Sana Zeeshan is the 2025 master’s degree Outstanding Student Medal recipient, graduating with her Ed.M. in Early Childhood Special Education from the Department of Special Education. Sana's speech:
Good morning, esteemed faculty, honored guests, cherished families, and my fellow graduates, the remarkable master's class of 2025. It is a great honor to stand before you today, representing each one of you as the recipient of the Outstanding Student Medal.
Reflecting on our journey, I am reminded of the incredible transformations we have experienced, both individually and collectively. When I began this program, resuming graduate studies after a significant gap as a mother of three, and adjusting to life in a new country and educational system, I faced substantial challenges. However, the outstanding support from the Department of Special Education and the College of Education—through research opportunities, dedicated mentorship, and extensive field experiences—provided me with the tools and encouragement I needed to grow tremendously, not only as an educator but also as a mother and individual.
Throughout our program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, we have navigated rigorous coursework and demanding schedules, often balancing multiple roles and responsibilities. For many of us, this journey has included moments of adversity where resilience became our greatest strength. Each challenging experience has taught us valuable lessons, shaping us into compassionate, reflective, and effective educators and service providers.
The collaborative spirit within our cohort has been instrumental to our success. Together, we engaged in impactful research, classroom teaching experiences, and meaningful discussions that broadened our perspectives. These collective efforts have underscored that education extends far beyond textbooks and lesson plans—it is about building genuine, trusting relationships with children, families, and colleagues.
As we step forward into our professional lives, let us carry with us the resilience, empathy, and knowledge we have developed here. Let us remain committed to advocating passionately for inclusive, equitable, and culturally responsive education. Together, we have the strength to positively impact countless lives, creating nurturing spaces where all children and their families feel valued and empowered.
Congratulations, class of 2025. I am immensely proud of all we have achieved and excited for the inspiring contributions we will continue to make. Thank you.
Bilkisu Tariq is this year’s bachelor’s degree Outstanding Student Medal recipient. Bilkisu graduates this May with her degree in Elementary Education from the Department of Curriculum & Instruction. Bilkisu's speech:
1+1=2, drawing circles and squares, reading children's books. This is the false perception many have of education majors. Being a teacher is really about sending pictures of us doing arts and crafts to our engineering friends with the caption #educationmajor…….but we won’t mention their reply back laughing at our starting salary. In all seriousness, teaching is an art that transcends generations. We have the power not just to nurture changemakers, but to embody change ourselves. But this tale is not about us, it's about the students and communities we serve.
Peace and greetings, my name is Bilkisu Tariq. I am a South Asian Muslim American, born and raised in Naperville Illinois, and I am graduating with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. As educators, we are knowingly walking into a profession where we are likely going to be underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated. This alone speaks to the type of people in this room. We are here, because we want to be and we understand the unequivocal value of our work. We are doing it for our children. It takes a compassionate heart to dedicate one's life to the benefit of others in a system riddled with injustice. Where bias curriculum is real. Racist and classist standardized testing is real. The school to prison nexus and the over disciplining of black and brown students is real. Where the ugliest forms of oppression including racism, white supremacy, dehumanization and xenophobia all manifest in the education system and are targeting our children. However, we are also ideally positioned to resist systemic oppression, and this hinges on genuine love for our students. No matter the odds, all children have the right to laugh, play, experience joy, and to love themselves for who they are.
As the first Muslim many of my students interact with, I receive many questions, especially about my hijab. “Why do you wear that?” “Can we do a hair reveal?” “Is that scarf stapled to your head?” and my personal favorite “Are you bald?” I love these questions because they show not just a child’s innocent curiosity and desire to learn about the unknown, but the importance of exposure to diversity. These interactions are genuine and humanizing. There is a loss of our own humanity when we do not recognize the humanity of our students. Humanity means looking for joy, and understanding the frustration caused by systemic oppression because without humanization, we cannot teach. We must root out any arrogance in our hearts so we can value every little difference that makes us the beautiful people we are. From ways of thinking, to self expression, to community practices, diversity is strength and beauty; True appreciation for this beauty is love. Diversity is who we are. Those locs are his culture, that hijab is her strength, his non-Americanized name is his truth, her accent is the sweet taste of her mother tongue. By understanding how injustices affect our students and recognizing their humanity, we know how to fight for our students, and how to empower them to fight for themselves.
Passion is not about words, it’s about action. Are we going to stand and resist the currents of oppression, or are we going to let the waves overcome us and risk complicity in the spirit murdering of our students? This serves as a reminder for what is at stake when we do not love our students the way they deserve to be loved. We must love each and every child………even if the only thing that comes out of their mouths is “skibidy ohio rizz.”........Resistance is never easy, but always necessary. Having our students’ backs means fighting the systems that harm them. Resistance is what we owe them. We need to be honest about this country's history. The forces of capitalism, colonialism and imperialism are destroying our world. We must counter these forces by facilitating our students' paths to being culturally aware agents of change. We must stand up for our human family wherever the injustice, both locally and globally. Whether it's our Black family, our Latinx family, our Palestinian family. Our collective fight against global injustices starts in our classroom. It starts with us.
Each child that walks into our classroom and into our hearts has knowledge and strengths we have yet to see, and new perspectives and understandings we have yet to learn. Teaching is the smile that lights our students' faces when we walk in the room. Teaching is the dawning of comprehension when they learn something new. Teaching is dapping up our students in the hallway. Teaching is the laughter in our classroom. Teaching is art, joy, and imagination. Teaching is humanity. Teaching is love. Resistance is love. As civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer once said “Nobody's free until everybody’s free.” So together we shall stand, resist, and love. Until liberation, thank you.