Where we made the magic happen, huh Marques?
This is where it took place. Darling Stadium. Why would a
young person from this area choose UVA?
I mean, what are some of the benefits
that you gained from your UVA experience?
I think I was able to grow because coming
from -- Hampton High School's a predominantly
black school, and most people
that come into to Hampton High School,
or probably most of the schools in the
city of Hampton, are more recruiting for
military. All we really saw
coming up was the military coming in and
out, and you know that's kind of like
something that's ingrained in you
subliminally, like "Man, military once I
graduate, military once I graduate." And
so when you get an opportunity to get an
invitation like a scholarship from
school like UVA, you're like, "Wow, you guys really
think I can make it there?" And when I got
the opportunity to go there,
I grew and learned so much. I think
just that notion that I could become more --
I learned so much about myself at the
University of Virginia. (Radio announcer: Hagans goes up, makes the catch! Holy cow! What a catch by Hagans!)
I really felt like I was able to grow
and develop and become so much more, and
I had like a hidden potential that I
never knew existed, so I'm really
thankful for that opportunity. All of the things you just talked about -- that's why
you're such a great role model for our
students. And yet you don't know it at
the time -- you didn't think about
that at the time that you were on this
field, a football star on Friday night, and
then on Saturday morning, your granddad
is like, "OK, let's get up and go to work."
Right? But that that work ethic, those
values to continuously try to get better,
to do more, to do more than what was
expected of you -- all of those values are
timeless. You've been there, you've done
it, you know what it takes to succeed, you
know what it takes to to push yourself,
and that's something that you really
can't place a value on that. At all.
Now does your family still live here? My granddad
lives in there with my aunt. What's the
dog's name? Guppy. We would play football right
here in the front yard. Isn't that funny how small it is now? It was big to you, I bet.
It was huge, yeah. I would be about 10
Or 12 of us in the front yard, just
playing. And then that, just -- believe it or
not, you had to touch the fence to score
a touchdown. These are probably
still here from us, I guess.
[Music]
[Applause]
If we agree diversity matters,
and if we agree that diversity is
important, then what are we willing to do
for the sake of [unintelligible]? Our deepest fear is not
that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that
frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?"
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Thank you and go 'Hoos!
[Music]
[Applause]