Laura Mcllwain Cruse ’91 Describes Lessons she Learned from Berkeley
The Fanfare sits down with alumni Laura Mcllwain Cruse to learn more about her experience at Berkeley and the insight she gained from it
June 9, 2023
At the annual Baccalaureate ceremony, an alumnus parent is selected to give an inspirational speech to officially adopt the graduating class into their alumni family. This year, Berkeley had the honor of listening to Laura McIlwain Cruse ’91, mother of senior Mason Cruse ’23, who delivered her message about taking the risk, having a healthy community and embracing new opportunities.
Cruse starts off the speech by offering insight in retrospect of her career, “Remember that your journey will probably be more impactful than your destination, sometimes taking a path that you have not planned,” she said.
When Cruse ’91 attended Berkeley, she learned to appreciate all the doors to new opportunities Berkeley provided and took advantage of them. She was an all season athlete from 6th to 12th grade, earning the outstanding athlete of the year award in both middle and upper divisions. She was a part of the Student Discipline Committee, Latin Club, Spanish Club and Prefects. Finally, she was awarded the esteemed Headmasters Trophy for the class of 1991.
After Berkeley, Cruse ’91 continued her education at Emory University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She then attended University of South Florida School of Medicine, earned her medical degree, completed a residency in internal medicine and completed a fellowship in rheumatology. Now, in her professional life, she is part of the advent health medical group and gives her time and talent to St. John’s Episcopal Church. She and her husband now have three sons, all of which attend or have attended Berkeley.
After thanking Headmaster Joseph Seivold, Cruse opened her speech by discussing how safe Berkeley made her feel to open new doors in her life.
“Discussions with Coach Pisano and Coach Roberts that spring convinced me to take the risk to try walking on for the soccer team. In essence, they said to me—‘Laura, you’ve got this.’ While I did make the team, the significance of those conversations was that I realized I had the confidence to take risks regardless of the outcome,” she said.
Cruse continued on to talk about the importance of forming strong relationships with the people around you. She claimed sometimes life gets busy, but the seniors should take a few minutes of their days to check in with those who mean a lot to them.
“The happiest people invest in relationships and make connections. Take time to foster these and be mindful of being present, in real-time, with and for those around you,” she said.
Cruse also covered a wide range of topics from the variety of passions she observes at Berkeley to the importance of building a portfolio that showcases who the seniors are and the idea that they should always be open to finding a new hobby; however, her main focus was to never pass up a new opportunity though it might be scary to put oneself out there.
Cruse concluded her speech by talking about how each graduating senior can define their own success to help others.
“Prioritize a healthy foundation to be your best: a healthy diet, water, exercise, sleep; and address mental health concerns,” Cruse said. “Be the positive difference in the world. Be proud of yourselves and all that you have accomplished so far. Take the risk. You’ve got this.”
Read the full speech here:
