In Memorial Stadium at 11:48 a.m. on Saturday, the Class of 2014 shifted the tassels adorning their graduation caps to the left side, signifying commencement from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

This is the first time in more than 50 years that the Commencement exercises have been held outside, said Chancellor Phyllis Wise. In years past, the ceremony has been hosted at State Farm Center; however, due to renovations the University deemed Memorial Stadium as the best alternative.

The ceremony, the 143rd of its kind, featured Col. Michael Hopkins, NASA astronaut and 1991 graduate of the University, as its Commencement speaker.

Hopkins emphasized that anyone has the power to define their own success — “and if you give that power up, if you let somebody else decide what you need to be, what you need to do or how you must accomplish things, you’re going to miss out on some fantastic opportunities in your careers and in your lives.”

Hopkins, who returned in March from an eight-month sojourn on the International Space Station, said if he had not followed his own vision of success, he may have never became an astronaut, which has been his dream since high school.

He said he appreciated the chancellor’s kind introduction, but he wanted “to tell you the real story behind that biography.”

Hopkins served as captain of the 1991 Fighting Illini football team, but he came to the University for its engineering program. He did not have an athletic scholarship, and he had not been recruited as a football player. He was a walk-on, and it took four years before he became a full-time starter.

He said he had not been able to attend his own Commencement ceremony because he completed his Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering in December of his fifth year at the University. Following that, he earned his Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Stanford University in 1992.

Hopkins said it took five years before he married his wife, a 1991 alumna who he had met on campus.

“Let me recap — four years to become a full-time starter on the football team. Four and a half to graduate. And five to convince Julie to marry me,” Hopkins said. “So if someone from the outside was deciding what success should look like for me, I wasn’t doing so well.”

He added that it took him 13 years and four tries to become an astronaut. He first applied for NASA’s astronaut program in 1996, but was turned down for the 1998 class, for the 2000 class and again for the 2004 class.

“I figured I’d just keep applying until I either made it, or NASA told me don’t bother,” he said.

Finally, he said, he was accepted into the 2009 NASA astronaut class. But he said his journey to the stars began at the University.

“This University didn’t just teach us how to do a job — it gave us the tools and knowledge to recognize our own potential,” Hopkins said. “It gave us the wisdom to understand the truest gauge of success is going to be found in our own hearts.”

In addition to Hopkins, a host of administrators spoke to graduates, including Wise, President Robert Easter and Board of Trustees Chair Christopher Kennedy.

Wise offered congratulations to not only graduates but their families and friends as well.

“I say to all of those family and friends of the Class of 2014, by investing in the futures of these graduates, by fueling their intellect and inspiring their idealisms, you have also invested in the future of this great nation of ours,” Wise said. “It is an investment from which our world will benefit for generations to come. Thank you for entrusting your students to us for the past few years. We are confident that we are returning to you young people who are ready to be leaders in the world, leaders in their neighborhoods, leaders in the state, in the nation and the globe.”

Tyler can be reached at [email protected] or @tylerallyndavis.