Wall Street Journal editor gives advice to New Mexico graduates

Emma Tucker, Wall Street Journal editor (Olivia Kuykendall/UWC-USA).
MONTEZUMA-- Don't rush life. Know that your career will take twists and turns. Don't be afraid to handle new obstacles.

Those are simply a few tips offered by Emma Tucker, the Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief, to the 118 students that comprised the United World College-USA's class of 2023.

Tucker, from London, was herself a graduate almost 40 years earlier from the two-year boarding school in Montezuma, New Mexico, that now hosts more than 200 trainees from 95 different countries. On Saturday, she functioned as the keynote speaker at the UWC-USA graduation.

" Say ‘‘ yes' to opportunities that terrify the living daylights out of you," Tucker stated in her address. "It's extremely, extremely simple to stay in our convenience zones, however here's the thing-- the people above you who provide you possibilities, desire you to succeed.".

Tucker was likewise the school's Giulio Regeni Alumni Impact Award winner-- which honors past graduates that demonstrate "the worths of a UWC education on a local, national or worldwide neighborhood scale.".

Learning she won the award-- called after a former graduate of the school who passed away in Egypt as he was looking into the development of independent trade unions-- was a bittersweet moment for Tucker. It came on the same day one of her reporters, Evan Gershkovich, was detained in Russia on espionage charges.

" Today, all over the world, the unfortunate reality is that it is getting harder and more harmful for people like Giulio and Evan to do their jobs securely," Tucker stated throughout her 10-minute speech. "And this is something we should all care about-- an independent press, the right to report freely, to hold those in power to account is a foundation of democracy.".

Wing Hei Natalie Lau, a 2023 graduate from Hong Kong, wants to end up being a legal representative or reporter, like Tucker.

She prepares to study liberal arts at the University of Toronto.

" I believe when you look at the world, in such troubled times, I (see) journalism as a method to do great for the world," she said.