Temera De Groot ’25 to honor identity in commencement address
Temera De Groot ’25 has always said she comes from a line of strong women. When she delivers the undergraduate student address during commencement at the DCU Center in downtown Worcester on May 19, it will be, in part, a tribute to her mother and grandmother.
“The women in my life have really motivated me,” says De Groot, an international development major and first-generation college student who lived in New Amsterdam, Guyana, until she was 10. Life and career opportunities were limited for her grandmother, De Groot says, and she watched her mother navigate the challenges of moving the family from Guyana to the United States. The experience sparked De Groot’s interest in becoming a lawyer. “I want to make sure people’s stories are heard so there are policies to protect vulnerable populations. My mom has always been big on making sure I stay very true to my roots and never forget where I come from.”
The address is also a tribute to her own hard work and perseverance. De Groot feels her college experience has not been linear, and that made her initially question whether she should address hundreds of her peers from the commencement stage. “I always felt I was five steps behind, learning things a lot later,” she says.
Her identity was also something she considered.
“I don’t look like all my peers, so it made me hesitant on how I could address them,” she says. “But after talking it out with friends and family, I decided that I should move forward. It’s important for me to represent my communities.
“I’m a first-generation student, a woman of color, an immigrant, a child of an immigrant. The communities I represent have been locked out of higher education or haven’t always had the privilege to access it.”
For De Groot, college has been a journey in getting comfortable and confident with using her voice. She recalled that she initially felt unnerved by the idea that she was “taking up space” at college.
“As I’ve gotten into my senior year, I’ve learned to ‘take space’ as much as possible, so that I’m making space for other people who look like me,” she says. “It’s making sure my communities are seen and heard and know we can achieve things when spaces aren’t tailored for us. That was the big motivating factor to apply to be commencement speaker.”
During her time at Clark, De Groot enjoyed the interdisciplinary aspect of her major and how class lessons emphasized people’s lives and stories.
“It’s one thing to learn about the economics of a country and how it interacts with other countries, but you have to remind yourself who’s being affected,” she says. “That’s really the center of what I want to do with my career.”
After graduation, De Groot will be studying for the LSATs and applying to law school with an eye toward one day working at the intersection of policy and law. She’s interested in the public service sector, perhaps as an immigration or human rights attorney. De Groot believes her internship experiences have helped prepare her for the future.
She served as a youth mentor and outreach intern at the Worcester nonprofit African Community Education, which assists African refugee and immigrant youth and families in achieving educational and social stability. She also worked at Ascentria Care Alliance, a social services organization in Worcester that supports refugees and immigrants among other populations. There, De Groot learned about the U.S. visa application process and how to direct immigrants toward resources. She also interned at the Worcester District Court, helping families fill out forms for housing or Family Court, or directing them to translation services.
On campus, De Groot stayed active. Along with a group of peers, she started the First-Generation Student Association (FSA), which fosters professional development skills and serves as a social space. She served as vice president and cultural and educational chair of the Caribbean and African Student Association, which she says felt like “home away from home” since Worcester doesn’t have a large Guyanese population.
The summer before her first year, De Groot participated in Connections@Clark, a pre-orientation program designed for students of color to develop leadership skills. As a junior, she received the Theodore Von Laue Undergraduate Prize in International Development, which is awarded to a junior international development major who has demonstrated accomplishment and commitment to the search for peace, equitable distribution of resources, human well-being, and environmental justice. As a senior, De Groot received the IDSC impact award, given to a graduating senior in the IDSC major who has demonstrated leadership or a collaborative role in community service and progressive change and has shown personal integrity in the face of adversity or other obstacles. She’s also worked as an assistant at the Goddard Library.
In her speech, De Groot plans to talk about how one creates a “new version” of themselves each time they enter a different phase of life, and what that will mean for the Class of 2025 as they embark on new career, educational, and life experiences.
“Ever since I entered college, everyone’s told me it’s going to be the best four years of my life. Sometimes I feel scared to let go of that. I’ve created a version of myself over the last four years that I’m so comfortable with,” she says. “But we won’t know what versions of ourselves exist and how great they can be if we never let go of our comfort zone.”
