Nico Ruggieri of Berklee College of Music delivered the Student Commencement address to over 1,000 graduates of the Class of 2020.
Nico Ruggieri attended Berklee College of Music from 2016 until 2020. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Business/Management. He was a Student House Manager at the Berklee Performance Center and Senior Student Recruiter at the Berklee College of Music Office of Admissions.
Being the Berklee Commencement Speaker…
It was early September 2016 when my family and I attended “Convocation and Concert”, an event Berklee hosted to welcome their newest musicians. There was a student who hosted the event as emcee, and I was so struck by his confidence and emotion. I told my parents that I wanted to be just like him by the time I was done at Berklee. Not only did I end up working for the emcee but I succeeded him as Senior Student Recruiter in 2018.
This is why it felt like fate, like destiny to become the commencement speaker. I had set a goal and made sure every step I took would push me closer to meeting it. While my colleagues might have been shedding in the practice room, I was practicing effective communication. Every information session and tour served as my two hour practice window, thinking of new ways to say I love my musician friends and our home.