Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Deedra Irwin delivered the commencement address at Michigan Tech's Graduate Spring Commencement Friday. Irwin is a 2015 Tech alumnus who competed in three sports for the university. She went on to join the Vermont Army National Guard and then compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in biathlon.

HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech had around 350 more graduate students honored as they received master’s degrees and doctor of philosophy degrees during the 2025 Spring Commencement Friday at the Student Development Complex (SDC).

Michigan Tech President Richard Koubek welcomed the graduates and their family and friends and introduced graduate speaker Tabasum Hamdard. Hamdard earned a master’s degree in data science after coming to the U.S. as a refugee from Afghanistan. Hamdard was evacuated after the takeover of the government in Afghanistan by her university to Kyrgyzstan.

There Hamdard received her bachelor’s degree, though when pursuing her master’s she came to the U.S. A group that funds Afghan students who leave the country connected Hamdard to Michigan Tech, and her education and achievements led her to the podium giving a speech that Friday.

“Although I knew that I was going through uncertainty, I still held on to the hope that somewhere in the world there will still be a place for me to learn, grow and belong, and that place turned out to be Michigan Tech,” Hamdard said. “From the moment I arrived here, I knew I wasn’t just a mere refugee or a student without a country, I was a Husky. Michigan Tech gave me more than just an education. It gave me a home, a place where I wasn’t defined by where I came from, but by what I could achieve.”

Hamdard’s speech went on to go over the struggles of studying at college, but pointing out the support available from students and Tech employees. She also commented on the struggle of winter and isolation in a smaller community, but there was a night in which she was reminded why she was there.

“One night, I looked out my dorm window and I saw the Northern Lights. It was a dream I had carried my whole life, one I never thought I would see, and yet there it was. The sky was dancing in green and purple, and in that moment I felt peace. I felt hope and I realized that even in the darkest of times, light still finds a way in, and that is what Michigan Tech has meant to me.”

Hamdard will now work as an intern in Ohio for Cooper Farms under the supervision of a Michigan Tech alumnus.

After Hamdard’s speech concluded, the commencement address was delivered by Deedra Irwin, a Michigan Tech alumnus of 2015 and biathlete Olympian. Irwin achieved the highest placement of an American Olympian in that sport, which combines Nordic skiing with rifle shooting. She shared her experience at Tech, which held dedication to three sports: cross country, track and field and Nordic skiing. Irwin built a life of success utilizing that experience, which led her to the Vermont Army National Guard and eventually to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

“What I learned is this: success isn’t always the podium,” Irwin said. “It’s choosing to keep going when no one is watching. It’s showing up for your team. It’s believing in something bigger than the finish line. You do not need a medal to create an unforgettable moment, and it was all because I didn’t give up because I gave myself one more shot at my dream and then another.”