When first invited to speak at Cornell’s Senior Convocation, ballet icon Misty Copeland said she wasn’t sure what she had to offer the Class of 2025.

“What can a ballerina offer to a group of Ivy League seniors, scientists, engineers, writers, activists, entrepreneurs, dreamers?” she asked the crowd in Barton Hall on May 22.

Credit: Sreang Hok/Cornell University

A lot of wisdom, it turns out. Copeland, who in 2015 became the first Black woman to be named principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, reflected on a journey that she said has been defined as much by struggle as by success. She exhorted the graduating seniors to embrace their challenges.

“Success is not the opposite of struggle. It includes struggle,” Copeland said. “Every person who’s ever done something meaningful has had to endure moments of pain, confusion, loneliness and resistance. So, when those big moments come – when you’re recognized, when your work is seen, when people start calling your name – don’t forget how you got there.

“Don’t let the spotlight erase your history. Let it illuminate it.”

Copeland gave glimpses of her own struggles. One of six children, she moved five times before the age of 7. She didn’t find her way to dance until age 13, which made her “a senior citizen, by dance standards,” she said. She also struggled with traditional expectations of how and what a dancer should be, which led her to doubt herself and her ability.

“You can be surrounded by applause and still feel unsure,” she said. “I know what it is to be celebrated publicly and questioned quietly.”

Copeland overcame these obstacles by embracing her story and difference, by embracing routine and purpose over perfection and achievement.

“There is power in routine. There is freedom in knowing some of the most extraordinary moments in life are built on the most ordinary hours,” Copeland said. “Ballet has taught me that grace is not effortless. It’s earned. It’s repetition. It’s showing up on hard days. It’s falling and getting back up. It’s feeling like you have nothing left and finding a way to give just a little more. Life is no different.”

Credit: Alexandra Bayer/Cornell University

The celebration in Barton Hall also included remarks from Marla Love, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students in the Division of Student and Campus Life, who asked the students to pat themselves on the back and tell each other “You’re shining bright.” Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, offered congratulations and advised students to cherish and invest wisely their most precious resource: time.

A video also played during the event, featuring messages from faculty as well as seniors sharing favorite memories, classes, study spots and more. The student dance troupe Breakfree and musical group Mariachi Regional en Cornell performed.

Reagan Patterson ’25, a student in the ILR School and chair of the Senior Convocation Committee, also focused on resilience. She recounted a story about a mule stuck in a well. Marked for death, farmers had begun to bury the mule alive.

“But as the dirt would hit the mule’s back, he would shake it off and step up,” Patterson said. “No matter how painful each blow was, no matter how dire the situation seemed, he just kept shaking it off and stepping up. It wasn’t long before the mule stepped triumphantly over the well wall … . The adversity that seemed likely to bury him was actually a blessing.”

Credit: Alexandra Bayer/Cornell University

Copeland said that titles, accolades and moments of success do not represent the finish line. “They are not the whole story. They are not even the peak,” she said. “They’re markers. They’re pauses in the music. They’re glimpses of what’s possible when preparation meets purpose and the world finally gets to see all that you’ve been building.”

Copeland, who launched the Misty Copeland Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to bring greater diversity to dance, also emphasized the importance of paying it forward.

“You’ve all been seen here,” Copeland said. “And now that you’ve been seen, it’s your turn. It’s your turn to see others, to invest in others.”

But Copeland’s final advice to Cornell’s graduating seniors was simple: Leap.

“Now the real dance begins, the dance of your life, and here’s what I want to see,” she said. “Leap – not because it’s safe, but because you’ve trained for this, because you trust the ground to meet you, because you’ve built that strength and the courage to land, even if it’s not perfect.”