By Timothy R. Olsen ’09, MBA ’18

Each spring the Utah State University campus transforms as snow melts, the Quad turns green, and flowers bloom. And as the semester winds down, finals are passed, and dorms are emptied, those colors begin to look just a little more vibrant in anticipation of one event — Commencement.

The robes, the bagpipes, the pomp and circumstance — not to mention copious amounts of Aggie Ice Cream — is the culmination of a student’s collegiate journey. A celebration not only of all they’ve achieved during their time on campus, but of what lies ahead.

And Utah State doesn’t have just one Commencement ceremony. Along with its celebration at the Logan Campus in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the university holds Commencement ceremonies throughout the state at its Southwest, Tooele, Brigham City, Moab, Uintah Basin, Eastern, and Blanding campuses.

On April 29, though, those who attended the 139th installment of the event in Logan were not only greeted by university president Brad L. Mortensen, who presided over his first Commencement as USU president, but by one of the greatest Aggie football players of all time, Bobby Wagner.

After receiving an honorary doctoral degree from Mortensen, Wagner joked that going forward he would need to be addressed as Dr. Bobby Wagner. He also told the graduates in attendance that he remembered being in their shoes, and his goal was to simply hold their attention for 10-15 minutes.

While sharing with this crowd a recap of his initial visit to Logan, his first interaction with snow, and his late-mother Phenia’s desire for him to get and education — as well as a threat to leave him in Logan if he didn’t accept his only scholarship offer — he certainly achieved his goal. The audience was at rapt attention throughout.

“If [you] would have told [me] that I would be here in this moment, with everything that’s been accomplished, I probably would have laughed at you,” Wagner said during his speech. “I almost didn’t even come here. It took a lot of convincing, a little bit of threatening, but more convincing. … sometimes the place that you least expect to be is the place that you’re exactly supposed to be.”