On May 15, more than 2,000 USC Marshall undergraduates and graduates will cross the stage and receive their diplomas at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Two members of the Class of 2026 will have the honor of addressing their classmates: Elechi Iroaga, a business administration major and Melissa Soong, a Full-Time MBA (FTMBA) candidate.

This won’t be Iroaga’s first time at the commencement podium. She delivered her class’s graduation speech in both middle school and high school. When she learned about the chance to represent her class, she knew it would be an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

“I love public speaking and giving speeches,” Iroaga said. “I knew that if I didn’t do it, I would regret not putting myself out there. Honestly, I feel like that’s been a theme for me throughout my time at USC.”

Iroaga says she entered USC Marshall as a timid first-year student. Four years at Marshall, however, instilled her with personal and professional confidence, an evolution she attributes to inspiring classroom visits from industry leaders and the Trojan Family that supported her.

“One of the amazing things Marshall professors do is they bring in all these people from the professional world. That really opened my eyes to what I could become,” Iroaga said. “My peers inspired me every single day, every single class. Being around them constantly, working with them, hearing their ideas, and getting their input — that has helped shape me as well.”

The 2026 graduate is certainly no longer the quiet first-year student. Across her four years, she was president of the women’s club soccer team, interned in the USC Athletics Department, and helped relaunch USC’s chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). Through Marshall organizations like the Global Leadership Program (GLP) and the Honors Research Program, she studied business in Thailand, Peru, Indonesia, and France. In between it all, she worked two internships at Ernst & Young (EY), one of the largest consulting firms in the world.

In her remarks, Iroaga hopes to instill in her classmates the same self-assurance the Trojan Family instilled in her.

“I want to remind them that going into this next phase of life, they are excellent and they’ll continue to be excellent in everything that they do,” Iroaga said. “Hopefully I can impart a vision of what the future could be and give hope about everything that they can accomplish.”

Melissa Soong, the graduate speaker, also had an unlikely route to the commencement stage. Before enrolling at Marshall, she worked as a product manager. When she arrived on campus, the MBA candidate didn’t know what professional path she’d pursue, only that she wanted a people-facing career. The program’s Career Launchpad, along with the support of classmates and faculty mentors, encouraged her to look into consulting.

Over the next two years, Soong became the president of the Marshall Consulting and Strategy Club (MCSC), providing guidance to those following in her footsteps. After graduation, she’ll launch her own consulting career with a full-time position at EY-Parthenon.

Looking back, however, Soong says it’s not her professional goals that have changed the most. It’s herself.

“Recruiting for consulting was very rigorous and challenging,” Soong recalled. “Going through that process, I learned a lot about myself and being confident in who I am, why this firm should hire me, and, as a USC student, what I can bring to the table. Finding that courage and confidence — I’ve been able to shift that 180 degrees from day one.”

Soong says she wouldn’t be where she is without her own personal Trojan Family. She credits faculty, staff, classmates, friends, and family for guiding her from one industry to another, from an undecided first-year MBA to her class’s commencement speaker. In her speech, she plans to shine a light on this support system, a group she refers to by an appropriately Marshall moniker.

“The whole concept behind the speech is about finding your board of directors,” Soong said. “My board of directors includes some of my classmates who have been a huge part of my mentorship and recruiting success … alumni who have been such amazing friends and given me amazing advice. Your family and your friends are also on your board of directors.”

Soong says it’s hard to imagine what it will feel like to deliver remarks before thousands of Trojans in the Coliseum. No matter how overwhelming the experience may be, she knows a single word will be echoing in her head.

“The only word that comes to mind is gratitude,” Soong said. “I [want to] express gratitude to the entire audience and show that without the USC Trojan Network and without this family, we wouldn’t be able to be where we are and we wouldn’t be able to carry the legacy forward.”