To the Class of 2029

Friday, August 15, 2025

Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday, Happy O-Week!

For us academics, the start of the new academic year is celebrated with excitement and a bit of anxiety. To be clear, we are more eager than anxious as we look forward to our O-Week, Opening Week, the preshow of our 154th academic year. Our O-Week, the week before the start of the academic year, is designed for our newcomers to become acquainted with campus and ease into their new home. Our newest Miners meet new friends and mentors and learn about the campus culture at the start of one of the most exciting journeys of their lives.

To our incoming new students, I say, as you embark on your monumental college journey and meet new friends – lifelong friends – be prepared to have successes and challenges, fatigue and joy, and learn how to expect the unexpected to become expected! 

I vividly remember how, despite my rigorous high school math and science courses, I felt greatly challenged in my freshman year at LSU. I was challenged by the accelerated pace of courses and all the content, and challenged with English as my new language. I remember how I spent hours digging up the meaning of words with the help of a dictionary before I could start studying the material. A lot was lost in the translation, and that made matters even more "interesting!" But I also remember the feeling of growth and expansion! I remember feeling important and excited that I was gaining new knowledge. I was challenged, and overcoming the challenges was remarkably satisfying. 

You see, for the first time, I met international students and faculty from all around the world, became fascinated with different cultures and had the opportunity to mingle with people, American and foreign. I met people who had come together, excited about what their next four years would bring. I was traveling the world all in one place! What I would give to experience all those years again! I had the optimism of youth with a dream to become an engineer!

So, as you arrive on campus, bring with you your contagious optimism and dreams. Put aside your prejudices, good or bad, and be ready to meet energetic people from around the world with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives. To paraphrase an African proverb, a solitary walk will get you home faster, but you will get there alone. Walking with others will take effort, but you will form your own tribe and get a chance to become a leader. You will discover a chance to help others achieve more than they could achieve alone. After all, leadership is about understanding and then helping others and, in the process, seeing the gates of personal growth open in front of you.

So, to the Class of 2029, I say, you have made a great decision. Believe in your purpose, in your mission and in yourself. Become a source of inspiration to others by taking your confidence in purpose to others. 

To help you, our newest Miners, get acclimated, I encourage you to take advantage of all the resources S&T offers to help you succeed, stay healthy, get involved and make connections. Comprehensive academic advising is always available to you, as are counseling, tutoring and coaching, including peer tutoring, and a host of programs to ensure your well-being.

To support our new faculty and staff, we offer faculty programs and resources to help you get connected and experience all that S&T and the surrounding community has to offer. Be sure to visit our Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence and take advantage of the resources offered to help you succeed.

I look forward to seeing you at convocation on Monday, when we formally welcome you, our Class of 2029, to campus and wish you well at the onset of your new journey.

Warmly,

-Mo. 

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu