Two Indiana University Bloomington students with vastly different academic journeys will soon realize one shared goal: to be the student speaker at their commencement and deliver a message to their fellow graduates.

Mohammad Nasir Moradi, in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, will speak at the graduate commencement, set for 3 p.m. May 9 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Drew Kimble, in the Kelley School of Business, will speak at the undergraduate commencement, which takes place at 8 p.m. May 10 at Memorial Stadium.

IU Bloomington is awarding 11,019 degrees to graduate and undergraduate students this spring.

A story of resilience

Moradi is earning a Master of Science in secure computing. This academic year he’s been one of four students in the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research’s new Student Fellows Program, which prepares student for careers in protecting critical systems. His goal is to work in cybersecurity and data privacy for a national government agency.

Mohammad Nasir Moradi. Photo by Chris Meyer, Indiana University Moradi’s commencement message will focus on how everyone has the ability to overcome challenges.

“Since childhood, I’ve believed that the challenges we face during our journey to get to an excellent point, they are not meant to block you but to test your determination,” Moradi said. “The problems are there to help you grow, not as a roadblock.”

Moradi speaks from personal experience. A native of Afghanistan, his life was upended when the Taliban took control of the country.

He had been attending two universities at once. He pursued a civil engineering degree at Kabul University and an information technology degree with a concentration in cybersecurity at American University of Afghanistan.

He thrived in those academic settings. He was an English instructor, and he loved engaging people and speaking at events, including student orientation and cultural events at American University. Moradi was a top student at both universities and was on track to be American University’s valedictorian and speak at commencement.

“When the Taliban took over our country and university, we could see them with guns in the buildings; it was unimaginable for me that that could happen,” Moradi said. “Everyone fled our beautiful campus. American University was the top university in the country, and all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, everything changed. I was shocked.”

When the Taliban seized control of American University, professors and staff members fled.

“I was desperate; I didn’t know what to do,” Moradi said.

Eventually, he was evacuated and connected with an American university in Iraq to complete his bachelor’s degree online. But with electricity and Internet access limited in Afghanistan, Moradi routinely worked from midnight to 4 a.m. to access and download materials he needed.

His graduation ceremony was online. Moradi’s goal of being the student speaker went unrealized.

The Institute of International Education, however, helped fulfill Moradi’s desire to continue his education with an Odyssey Scholarship, which aids refugees and displaced students. Moradi said he chose IU because it had good programs in secure computing and cybersecurity. But it’s provided more than that.

“IU Bloomington is not only my institution, it’s my home; it’s my family,” Moradi said.

Since arriving to campus, Moradi has embraced several opportunities. He has:

• Conducted initial incident response investigations, and mitigated risks to personal and institutional information and information technology resources as a security operations technician at the University Information Security Office.
• Worked as a graduate associate instructor for the Technical Foundations of Cybersecurity course taught by Luddy School professor of computer science Apu Kapadia.
• Attended the 2024 National Science Foundation Cybersecurity Summit, where he presented about a project.
• Received the Academic Excellence and Excellence in Leadership awards from the Luddy School.
• Worked as an intern with the Cyber Security Forum Initiative in Washington, D.C., as a cyberthreat intelligence analyst.

Now he’ll realize his goal of being a commencement speaker.

“I thought my story was worth mentioning,” Moradi said about applying for the honor.

‘Go beyond people’s expectations’

Kimble grew up in Herndon, Virginia, about 30 minutes from Washington, D.C. He gained an interest in business during high school while participating in DECA, an organization that teaches professional skills related to finance, marketing, hospitality and entrepreneurship.

Drew Kimble. Photo by Chris Meyer, Indiana University He originally envisioned attending an in-state school but chose Indiana University because of its highly ranked Kelley School of Business, to which Kimble was admitted directly.

“It was a great opportunity to step outside my comfort zone,” he said.

At IU, Kimble has embraced opportunities to enhance and broaden his business skills. He served as co-president of M&A Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions club in the Kelley School that focuses on strategy and finance. He was a teaching assistant for BUS-K 303, a technology and business analytics course.

Kimble also served as vice president of membership outreach for the Kelley Technology Consulting Workshop, which consists of two classes taken by selected students during their junior and senior years. He said the workshop helps with networking for internships and jobs and led to a summer internship with FintastIQ and EY, both consulting and professional services companies.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in information systems and business analytics, Kimble will work for EY as a business transformation consultant.

His IU business experiences have included a bit of fun, too. For example, he created a student-run organization called Taste of Bloomington to help students explore local cuisine and support small businesses. Kimble said there is an unwritten goal for students to eat at as many of the Kirkwood Avenue restaurants as they can by the time they graduate, but his freshman dorm was a long way away. So he created the organization his sophomore year and would arrange with local restaurants for a group of students to come and dine.

“It was fun,” he said. “I learned some lessons and ate a lot of great food.”

Kimble wants to use his commencement speech to share about the concept of unreasonable hospitality, which comes from a 2022 book by the same name.

“You go beyond people’s expectations and make people’s experiences memorable and unique,” Kimble said. “It’s the way I want to treat everyone, rather than just another conversation or interaction. You challenge yourself to be non-complacent in what you do.”

He said that one way he’s done that is by making it a goal to buy a cookie for a hard-working fellow employee before each shift at his part-time job as a way to lift her spirits.

Kimble said he’ll leave IU with his spirits high.

“It’s very much a journey, and there’s so much learning — awkward situations and unique scenarios and so much learning come from it,” he said. “It’s been amazing. I love Bloomington and the school and all the people I met.”