While no two groups of students we say goodbye to each May are ever the same, one thing remains each year around commencement time: the feeling of hope, inspiration and pride that is felt by everyone involved, including our graduates, their parents and friends, and our faculty and staff here at the College of Business and Economics.

B&E’s commencement ceremony was held on May 14 at the  West Virginia University Coliseum, where an estimated 500 students walked the stage to be handed their diplomas.

Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit, was awarded with a presidential honorary doctor of business degree. He joined Intuit in 2003 and held a series of executive positions during a five-year rise through the company where he successfully led several of its major businesses. He was named Intuit’s president and chief executive officer in January 2008, and became chairman of the board of directors in January 2016.

The Kenova, West Virginia, native said it best when he spoke to the impending graduates. “I have lived in 10 states across the country, but I promise you I never left West Virginia in my heart or in my mind.”

“I get a chance to work with people from every university you could name. You are graduating from a leading-edge university with a reputation around the world. Mountaineers plan to blaze trails rather than follow paths.”

The Class of 2016 went out with one last sing-along of “Country Roads” before they parted ways to their bright futures. Just as they would during any other momentous occasion in their lives, the graduates made sure to preserve their graduation memories for life on social media through tweets, photos and videos on Twitter and Instagram by using #WVUgrad. Below is a compilation of their memories on graduation day, from their perspective and their own smartphones, via Storify.