Brinley Warren admitted she has a massive fear of public speaking. So naturally, she applied to be the 2025 Undergraduate Student Speaker at commencement.
“It was more of wanting to share a message of my route to graduation,” Warren said. “I feel like Peace has significantly influenced me and my becoming the person I am now.”
Warren, a native of Wilson, transferred to William Peace University from East Carolina University. She completed her undergraduate requirements in August, but will march next week. Since August, Warren has worked at Peace as the Graduate Assistant of Student Involvement.
Over the summer, Warren realized she wasn’t ready to leave Peace yet, so she applied for a job on campus. Her journey to downtown Raleigh took a detour through Greenville, but ultimately, she found her home.
Kristen Koch, Director of Student Involvement, first met Warren as a student. Koch remembers Warren being shy and reserved, but watched her evolve over the years. Koch said Warren has become the best addition to the student involvement team.
“She has taken all the skills she learned in her undergraduate career and has masterfully applied them to her role here as a staff member,” Koch said. “I am so proud of her accomplishments at Peace, and she is a worthy Commencement speaker.
She applied to Peace as a senior in high school, but picked ECU because she wanted the football games, the big school, the “big college life.”
She realized that wasn’t for her. As she was trying to figure out her next step, Warren got a letter from Peace saying they still had her application on file.
“That was my moment of like, this is where I’m supposed to be,” Warren said.
Warren has made the smooth transition from student to staff, but must now overcome one small thing before standing before her peers on Saturday.
“I don’t like public speaking,” Warren confessed. “When I found out I was going to speak at commencement, it was a mix of ‘I’m excited, and then the drop in my stomach, and I felt like I was going to throw up. My biggest thing is I don’t want to cry.”
2025 School of Professional Studies Student Speaker: Yomeaquea Martin
Like Warren, Yomeaquea “Mikki” Martin isn’t a fan of public speaking, but she felt like there was a message she wanted to share.
“But I think my message of not giving up is something people struggle with sometimes,” Martin said.
Martin returned to school to earn her degree and now teaches Readers Theater at Northwood Elementary School in Cary.
“That’s where I plan to retire from,” Martin said.
At the urging of Jessica Waddell, her advisor at the time, Martin, with some hesitation, applied to be the School of Professional Studies speaker.
“When I met Mikki in 2022, I was immediately drawn to her love for education,” Waddell said. “She is an experienced educator in this community and truly loves what she does. But more importantly, it’s Mikki’s personality that shines the brightest. She is dedicated, thoughtful, and compassionate. Mikki allows you to feel seen and values her relationships—I know this extraordinary quality will continue to impact her students.”
Martin enrolled at William Peace University in the summer of 2022. She initially enrolled in college in 1995, but “life got in the way.”
At the urging of a coworker, Jamie Luersen, Martin returned to school. Last year, Martin and Luersen were commencement marshals together.
On Saturday, Martin will stand on stage alone, with a message for her peers and one family member, indirectly.
“My son is 24 and getting ready to go back to school; he’s taken breaks here and there,” Martin said. “I’m telling him that his journey is his own, so a part of my message is to him.”
Martin wants to share how she had to overcome days when it was hard, when she struggled, but she pushed through to the finish line.
“There were several times I thought, ‘How in the world?’ Martin said. “Specific classes, I thought I would absolutely lose it. But I set a goal and I wanted to complete it.”
