Around 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students who completed their degrees this semester and in the summer attended Pitt’s Winter Commencement on Dec. 14 at the Petersen Events Center.

This is the third year Pitt has held a winter ceremony, and the number of participants continues to grow.

The main speaker was the Honorable Deborah L. Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness. She advised graduates to continue the pursuit of knowledge as they jump-start their careers.

“First, know that a rich, relevant and rewarding career always allows both the time and the space for the magic of serendipity to be fused with the alchemy of discovery,” Wince-Smith said. “Second, trust and empower yourself with the ability to achieve, to draw upon the deep replenishing reserves of your intellectual acumen, your insight, your intuition and critical judgment so you can think big and tackle big problems. And third, I draw this axiom from my work as an archeologist, always remember to try to see and decipher the meaning and importance of what is unseen.”

The undergraduate speaker was Nidhi Girish, a Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and Frederick Honors College student who earned a BS in neuroscience. Girish called on her peers to recognize the many ways their Pitt experience will carry them through their lives.

Larissa Allen, a School of Nursing PhD recipient who served as this year’s graduate student speaker, celebrated the grit and perseverance displayed by every graduate.