2026 Grad Speaker

Meet Our 2026 Student Grad Speaker

Louise Rodrigues: Student Commencement Speaker

When Louise Rodrigues first stepped onto the De Anza campus in 2024, she was terrified.

It had been 20 years since she’d last been in college, having left after two years at a university in her native Philippines because of financial challenges. Now Rodrigues wondered whether she belonged in a classroom again. In addition to being a returning student, she worked full-time — and, as an immigrant and a transgender woman, she worried about how she would be perceived.

Instead, she found a community that welcomed her.

Now Rodrigues is graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Business Management and a Certificate in Communications. This year’s student commencement speaker plans to continue her education by pursuing a bachelor’s degree while advancing her career in facilities management.

“I stepped onto the campus, and that's when I felt it — that this is the perfect place,” said Rodrigues. “I followed my heart and my gut feeling. Sometimes life presents you with opportunities you would never expect, and all you have to do is dive in.”

After leaving school in Manila, she worked abroad and eventually immigrated to the United States in 2017.

When the COVID pandemic brought a period of reflection, Rodrigues decided it was finally time to pursue the dream she had put on hold. She began searching for a college and found De Anza.

Rodrigues said the support she received from faculty helped her overcome her fears and regain confidence in her abilities.

“That, for me, is the epitome of being an educator,” she said. “They make students understand and realize that they are far more capable than they think.”

In a Performance Studies class she took, Rodrigues was willing to take risks and step beyond her comfort zone, embracing challenges with courage and growing tremendously through the process, said Stephanie Anderson, Communication Studies instructor. 

“One of her most memorable contributions was a performance centered on the experiences of a refugee from Iran,” Anderson said. “The depth of her research, empathy and storytelling left a lasting impact on me and many of our classmates. It remains one of the most powerful performances I have witnessed.”

Outside the classroom, Rodrigues has been active in LGBTQ+ advocacy through her workplace and hopes to continue serving as a mentor and role model for others. Having grown up without support for her gender identity, she is passionate about helping people feel accepted, valued and free to be themselves.

Now, as she prepares to address her fellow graduates, Rodrigues hopes her story will encourage others to take a leap of faith and never feel they have to abandon who they are.

“Just take the chance,” she said. “Follow your gut. Face your fear. Show up. You never know how much your presence will matter.”

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