Anna Nelson

Giving the commencement speech is something senior Cristiana Oliveira considered ever since she attended a friend’s commencement two years ago.

“I just thought I wanted to be that person,” she said.

Oliveira was chosen out of 26 people to speak at the afternoon commencement ceremony. She presented her speech to a panel of judges and was chosen.

Oliveira, a broadcast journalism and Spanish double major, will speak about the power of knowledge and what it has done for her personally and academically.

She is an international student from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a city of about 4 million, and chose to come to school at UW-Eau Claire when she was offered a scholarship.

“It was hard to adapt to a small town,” Oliveira said. “There’s not as many places to go or as much diversity or culture. At first I hated it.”

In addition to adjusting to the smaller city and American lifestyle, Oliveira’s father died during her first semester at Eau Claire.

“It’s been really hard being away from my family, but I’ve had a wonderful host family that has helped.” She learned how to eat right, exercise and have fun while working and studying.

“The thesis of my speech is how empowered I feel for learning,” she said.

Oliveira is one of 975 undergraduate and 60 graduate students graduating this May.

That number is slightly higher than in past years, said Beverly Soll, commencement coordinator. Graduating seniors lined up from the service center to Burger King around 6:30 a.m. Monday seeking extra tickets to the ceremony. Tickets were gone within five minutes for the morning commencement ceremony, said Julie Carr, ticket coordinator for the service center.

Afternoon ceremony tickets were gone in about two hours, she said. There are 50-60 more students graduating at the morning ceremony, at which senior Brian Kevin will be speaking.

“But we’re always filled to capacity no matter what,” Soll said. The capacity of Zorn Arena, the ceremony’s site, is about 3,000, Soll said. But there must be room for ramps and a band, she said.

Every student graduating is given four tickets, Soll said, and they are given over a month to pick them up. In the second round, there is no limit put on how many tickets a student can get. Those who were not able to get tickets to the commencement can watch the ceremony from a remote site in Davies Center, where refreshments will be served.