Kyle Brewer, FNP-C Gives Address at WGU Commencement

Congratulations to Kyle Brewer, a Family Nurse Practitioner at the MDH Convenience Clinic who recently received his degree from Western Governors University! Brewer was officially awarded his diploma on September 21 at a ceremony in Orlando, Florida. But receiving his degree wasn’t Brewer’s only accomplishment that day — he was also chosen to speak for the Health Division graduates.

Keep reading to learn more about the ceremony and speech in his own words.

This experience was amazing. I was hopeful there would be a commencement in Chicago, so that more of my family could attend. But going to Orlando made it seem even bigger. Walking out onstage, giving my speech, and accepting my degree was surreal. It was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I was proud of my speech and work.

This was a huge honor. Out of almost 2,500 graduates, I was one of four chosen. There was one speaker from each division: Health, IT, Education, and Leadership. I was chosen as the Health speaker after writing a speech and submitting a recording of it. I was one of over 100 submissions. To be selected as a graduate speaker and stand in front of more than 15,000 people and represent my family, my hometown, my alma mater, and MDH was an amazing honor, and I’m humbled by the support that was given.

I knew I had a way with words. In high school, I went to state as one of 12 finalist Voice of Democracy speakers for the VFW. This was the last public speaking I had done though, back in 2006. I had an idea of what I wanted to say, and the speech kind of came together over several weeks with my main message being that my degree was earned, not just given. I constantly had people telling me, “I don’t know how you did what you did with all your obligations and all you took on.” After I was selected to speak at commencement, they also asked me to speak at the White Coat Ceremony, and I wrote a second speech for that. After speaking there, my wife came to the stage and helped me don my white coat.

I’m already feeling an itch to figure out what’s next. I never want to be stagnant. I think there’s always room for improvement and furthering your education, especially when you’re trying to provide quality patient care. I don’t have a specific degree picked out, but I’ve started thinking about what can benefit my patients, my family, and our community. My wife suggested I take at least a year and settle into my job, and I think that’s reasonable advice. There’s definitely more to be achieved in the future.