About 7,100 students will walk the stage Friday and Saturday and shake hands with University President R. Bowen Loftin for the May commencement ceremonies as they mark a milestone in their lives.Rep. Bill Flores, Class of 1976, will give the commencement convocation speech Thursday and will also speak at the Mays Business School graduation ceremony.Flores said he is excited to speak at the graduation ceremonies because he thought the speech from his ceremony was significant and he hopes to inspire current graduates with his own words.”It was pretty meaningful to me because the speaker had gone through some difficult times of their own in their life,” Flores said. “So to watch how they overcame adversity was something that I think helped me in terms of knowing that life can be difficult sometimes and that the key to success is how you deal with those difficulties.”Flores said he wants to encourage the graduates to attend the commencement convocation.”I think it’s something they shouldn’t miss,” he said. “I think it’s something that can be meaningful to them if they’ll come and listen to what the speakers have to say.”Flores said there are specific points in his convocation speech that he’d like to share with graduates, the first being to congratulate them on their accomplishments.”The second thing I’d like to do is talk about the state of the world that they’re entering,” Flores said. “They are entering a difficult economic and fiscal environment. I just want to make sure everyone knows what that’s like. They’re going to have greater challenges than graduates have had in prior decades.”Third, Flores said he wanted to challenge the graduates as they move forward in life to help make the world a better place.Andrew MacDonald, senior molecular and cell biology and Spanish double major, said he plans to make a difference in people’s lives after graduation and he will begin medical school in the fall.”My plan for years has been to become a doctor in order to help people,” MacDonald said. “I think that’s really the only way to achieve that. What better purpose is there?”Despite the extra years of school, MacDonald said it will be worth the wait.”That’s what I’m studying medicine for,” he said. “I’m willing to work hard to get there.”Although MacDonald said he is glad to finish up school at Texas A&M, it doesn’t seem as big a deal to be graduating.”I am excited for the semester to be over,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like the giant milestone because I’ll be continuing [medical school] in the fall, and I’ll be continuing for the next four years. So even though college is over, my studies are far from over.”Even though Flores wants to warn graduates about the difficult job market, Bryan Le, senior applied mathematics major, said he isn’t nervous about his future career.”For myself, I’m not particularly [nervous] because I chose a major that would be flexible and in high demand in the job industry,” Le said. “In addition to the fact that we come from a rather prestigious university, I’m not too terribly worried about finding a job.”A point that Flores wants graduates and other students to become more aware of is the appreciation of the value of obtaining a degree and doing it in a timely manner. Flores funded his college career and said the fact that he worked so hard, not only to obtain a degree but also to pay for it, gave him a profound appreciation for it.”I don’t think some of today’s generation of students think deeply enough of the importance [of the timeliness of graduation] and I don’t think they give enough consideration to the quicker you get done with school, the quicker you’ll be to get a return on investment for what their parents or their scholarship donors have contributed to the cost of their education,” Flores said.As students prepare for the “real world” and look back on their time spent at A&M, a common thought is how they will miss the University.”What I will miss the most about Texas A&M is the culture: the friendly ‘Howdy!’ from random strangers at the MSC or standing with the 12th Man during football games,” said Abbie Adams, senior finance major. “It is the undying loyalty of its students that makes this University so unique, and something I have truly come to treasure.”Shannon O’Connor, senior biomedical sciences major, said she will miss constantly being around fellow Aggies.”The community that Texas A&M offers is like none other,” O’Connor said. “Although the Aggie family extends far beyond being a student, I will miss the privilege of being daily submerged in the love Aggies have for each other.”