By Kristine Milbrandt

Britney Hermsen normally isn’t at a loss for words. Yet she was speechless when chosen by President Darrel Colson and other Wartburg faculty to give the Class of 2012 commencement speech.

“It’s tremendous. I can’t believe it,” said Hermsen, a psychology and sociology double major with minors in Spanish and leadership. “We have so many amazing individuals in this class. I’m very blessed and humbled to be giving this speech.”

Hermsen has a long list of accomplishments —the outstanding senior in community sociology, a Dean’s Honor Cord recipient with one of the 40 highest grade point averages among seniors and captain of the volleyball team. So the choice didn’t surprise her adviser, Dr. Todd Reiher, professor of psychology.

“Britney has all of the attributes one looks for in a Wartburg student,” Reiher said. “She is exceptionally bright, interpersonally skilled, highly motivated and displays maturity and judgment beyond her years.”

Hermsen credits Reiher, other mentors and classmates for making her time at Wartburg so memorable.

“If I were at a larger university, I wouldn’t have gotten to know others so well and have these relationships,” Hermsen said. “I can call up my professors, and they help me in any way. I’m not just a number, I’m a name. I love being part of a small campus, and I love Wartburg.”

In her speech Hermsen will ask her peers to look forward to constant change.

“Endings are inevitable,” Hermsen said. “Once you start in life, you’re going to change with every ending. I’m going to talk a lot about what we’ve been through in our four years.”

Hermsen has had to cope with a great deal of change. Two years ago her father was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer as a non-smoker and passed away a short time later.

“Learning from that, I have to put everything I have into everything I do,” Hermsen said. “Everything I accomplish, I dedicate it to him, and I want to make sure that he would be proud of me. And I know he would.”

Hermsen was a member of the volleyball team for her first three years. As a junior, she served as team captain and helped the team gain an NCAA Division III regional tournament berth.

“Our team is so close. We’re going to hold those relationships the rest of our lives,” Hermsen said.

She also worked in the Admissions Office for four years and recently interned with the Waverly-Shell Rock United Way.

An outgoing individual, Hermsen plans to transform her love of working with others into a lifelong career.

“I love that you can get to know people on a deeper level,” Hermsen said of her passion for psychology. “I just love seeing the uniqueness in individuals.”

Hermsen has high expectations for the Class of 2012.

“I hope that they can make a change, whether it’s a small change in their lives or on a larger scale,” Hermsen said. “I also hope they’re happy. I want them to do things they love and that they’re happy about.”