Sure, she looked composed and put together and her hair looked great Sunday, graduation day, when most of the hard work was done.

But there was a time during junior year when Meagan Bachmayer, this year’s chosen student commencement speaker, was ready to pull that hair out.

“I was overscheduled, overcommitted ... overwhelmed,” said Bachmayer, who was chosen by a selection committee as this year’s student speaker. “I ended up leaving wind orchestra.”

She learned something important that year: It’s OK to say no, it’s OK to not do something, even when you’re used to doing everything and always saying yes. That theme rang through in her commencement speech Sunday at Gustavus.

It’d be hard to look at her college career, though, and conclude she’d said no to anything.

A abridged version of her resume would include the following: She’s been a Gustie Greeter, a Gustavus Ambassador, served on Student Senate, played in the Wind Orchestra, and was a member of Pi Sigma Alpha (the political science honor society). She’s completed three political internships — working for Terry Morrow’s 2006 campaign, at Tim Walz’s congressional district office, and with the Minnesota House of Representatives. She also spent a semester in South Africa.

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