Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek surprised Southern Oregon University graduates on a sunny Saturday morning at the school’s 99th commencement ceremony. Kotek, who congratulated each graduate on the stage during the more than two-hour event,  described the tumultuous times facing the class of 2025.

It’s a small space — 9.5 by 9.5 inches, 90.25 square inches — but many of the nearly 900 Southern Oregon University graduates in attendance at Saturday’s commencement ceremony took advantage of the moment, perched on the cusp of finishing one of life’s chapters with beginning another, to do some succinct summing up atop their mortarboards.