Oak Lawn, Tinley Students Tapped To Speak At Moraine Valley Commencement Ceremonies

Moraine Valley Community College named its featured student speakers at the 2026 commencement Friday, May 8.

Kelly Wilson, of Tinley Park, will deliver remarks during the 2 p.m. ceremony, and Amin Tekrour, of Oak Lawn, doing the speaking honors during the 6 p.m. ceremony. Moraine Valley’s Professor of the Year, Dr. Amani Wazwaz, will serve as grand marshal of the procession and will deliver a message to the graduates.

Wilson followed an unconventional journey to her degree. After attending high school online and graduating in 2019, she enrolled in Moraine Valley to pursue welding. However, she stepped back from school during the pandemic before returning in 2023, this time pursuing an associate in science degree. Her desire to learn and succeed led her to taking more prerequisites than she needed for her degree.

“Ultimately, what that did for me is put me in a position where I had taken so many prerequisites that I kind of got a degree by accident,” Wilson said.

Initially, Wilson did not intend to participate in the spring ceremony. However, when she received an email seeking student speakers, she reconsidered.

“As I continued reading the email, I realized that I would actually make a pretty good candidate,” Wilson shared.

In the future, Wilson hopes to pursue education to be a nurse. During her time at Moraine Valley, she has been involved in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and enjoyed the many resources the college offers from academic advising to tutoring and beyond. “Now, Moraine feels like home to me,” she shared. “I know the place like the back of my hand, and I’m just super grateful that I chose Moraine Valley because to me, it didn’t make sense to go to one of those big schools when I didn’t really know who I was or what it was that I wanted to do or how I wanted to change, not the world, but the community.”

Tekrour’s path to Moraine Valley also was different from most. He arrived alone in the United States when he was 15 years old as a refugee from Mauritania. Tekrour grew up in foster care and did not attend high school, saying, “I thought I didn’t even have a chance at education.” Then, he met a friend who encouraged him to get his high school equivalency degree from Moraine Valley. After doing so, Tekrour enrolled to pursue his associate degree.

While English is not his first language, Tekrour joined the Moraine Valley Speech and Debate Team to help with his English-speaking skills and accent, as well as to strengthen his confidence. This spring, he earned fifth place in oratory at the Illinois Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament.

During his time at Moraine Valley, Tekrour truly has made a difference for other students.

“I founded a club called United Horizons,” Tekrour said. “It’s just for immigrants to be able to more easily integrate with the society here, and we had ESL classes and things like that to help them.” Furthermore, he served as vice president of the college’s Economics Club and conducted research with math professor Jerimi Walker. He mentioned resources at the college, including ESL classes, the Foundation, Tutoring Center and Speaking and Writing Center as invaluable to his experience navigating education for the first time.

Asked for what he hopes the class of 2026 will take away from his speech?

“I know it sounds generic, but just never give up,” Tekrour said. “You never know what’s going to end up happening in a few months. You know, you start somewhere, and you never know where you’re going to end up.”

Moraine Valley’s 2026 Commencement is Friday, May 8, at 2 and 6 p.m. in Building H, FitRec, on the college’s main campus, 9000 W. College Parkway in Palos Hills.