Bond is Students' Choice Commencement Speaker

When Northern Michigan University senior success adviser and instructor Ryan Bond was notified that he was the students' choice for commencement speaker for the Dec. 13 ceremony, he said he had to re-read the email several times for its contents to sink in.

"I was completely shocked and didn't see it coming," he said. "I thought, 'Okay, I have a responsibility now. If there's anything in my life that I can share that might help somebody else, then it's worth stepping into the limelight for a moment.' I will encourage graduates to push beyond their comfort zones and look intentionally for opportunities to listen to and connect with people different from them in the hope of realizing we're in this together, and it's a shared human experience. Commencement is not an ending; it's a beginning. What follows next is key."

Bond joined NMU in 2023 and splits his time between advising and teaching. He said they reinforce each other.

"Teaching makes me a better adviser, and advising makes me a better teacher," Bond said. "It's not just the content of the course; it's how it can be relevant to the next step in a student's life."

Bond teaches a History of the Holocaust course, which is modeled after a German seminar-style format that emphasizes collaboration and student-driven projects. He also teaches German language courses.

"My interest in German language and culture is all Beethoven's fault," he said with a smile. "It started when I was a teenager listening to classical music, which is one of my major passions. I would hear texts within Beethoven's music and the works of other German composers and thought it was a language I wanted to learn."

Bond's grandparents' first language was Danish. German wasn't taught at that time at his high school in Greenville, Mich., so he had to defer the goal until college.

"Then once I started taking German, I realized that in order to really learn the language, I needed to immerse myself in it by spending time in the country," he said. "Going to Germany for a year during my undergrad and gaining that intercultural, international experience was the best thing I've ever done in my life. Eventually I ended up living there for over eight years. That experience is one reason I encourage students to venture beyond familiar boundaries."

Bond attributes much of his professional philosophy to a mentor he had as an undergraduate, an influence that will be incorporated into his commencement address.

"A student here recently asked me, very bluntly, why I do what I do-why I spend so much time with them," Bond said. "I sent her an article about my undergrad professor. He told me that language is only a tool, and he's the one who pushed me to study abroad in Germany for a full year, not just a semester. If I can follow in his footsteps and continue his impactful legacy, then I'm doing the right thing."

Bond is obviously on the right track, given his selection as commencement speaker after only two years at Northern. As both an adviser and instructor, he said the most rewarding part of his work is witnessing students' growth.

"I can think of the most introverted, quiet student at the beginning of the semester who ended up giving the longest presentation in my Holocaust class," he said. "To see them develop through the course of a semester-that's what stays with me. It also gives me immense gratification when I see students receive a Fulbright scholarship for overseas study after graduating from here. I realize that's not everyone's goal or it might not be feasible for all, and that is okay. I routinely tell students they can still make a difference beyond the borders of campus, whether that's in Marquette or elsewhere."

NMU's commencement begins at 10:30 a.m. in the Superior Dome. It will be streamed online and broadcast live on WNMU-TV 13. For more information, visit nmu.edu/commencement.