Carla Gerardu-Low | Family Stories & Roots

Uncovering the Stories That Shaped Us

Proud Parent Moment: Our Daughter’s 2025 Marketing Graduation Speech — May 18, 2025

Proud Parent Moment: Our Daughter’s 2025 Marketing Graduation Speech

CSU Class of 2025 regalia

I don’t usually like to brag, but every once in a while, a moment comes along that’s just too special not to share. This weekend was one of those moments — a proud parent milestone I’ll never forget.

Our daughter graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Business major (emphasis in Marketing) and a Philosophy minor. She was also named the 2025 Marketing Outstanding Graduate. This honor came with the incredible opportunity to serve as the featured student speaker at the Marketing Department’s commencement ceremony.

Watching her represent her peers with such poise, warmth, and confidence was one of the proudest moments of our lives. My face actually hurt from smiling so much!

You can watch her speech below (starts at 17:01) — it’s a beautiful reminder of the power of hard work, heart, and a great sense of humor.

We’re beaming with pride and excited for all that’s ahead. Congratulations, Alexa — we love you oodles and oodles!

Finally…A Home for My Family Tree — August 27, 2015

Finally…A Home for My Family Tree

Have you ever ended up getting pulled into a hobby very much by accident? Perhaps you were Internet surfing, and wham, you found something that surprised, yet intrigued you. Well, that is what happened to me! About fifteen years ago, I stumbled upon a genealogy site with information about my family going back to the 1600s, and today, I still find it fascinating. I don’t have much time to work on it, but every once in a while I get a burst of energy to update it. Yesterday was one of those days.

The challenge with long-term, pick it up/put it down projects, like genealogy, is technology passes you by while you are busy doing other things. It seems like every time I start working on it, a significant amount of time is spent updating and relearning the apps. The good news is that the technology continues to get better and better. My computer, phone, and tablet now work together (finally), so I can make changes at any time, on any device. Yay!

With that said, I now have a home for my Family Tree web project. Take a peek and let me know what you think – Gerardu-Low Family Tree.