Watch: Sophomore Diana Cates’ Inspirational SMU Story

Sophomore Diana Cates ’18 delivered an eloquent tribute to all those who supported The Second Century Campaign at the campaign finale April 22. “… With their help, I’m pursuing a dream I wasn’t sure I would realize,” she said. After high school, Cates served in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years, attaining the rank of sergeant. When she returned home, she had decided on a career in world affairs, but wasn’t sure how to attain that goal. “One day I saw a billboard that changed my life. It said, ‘World Changers Shaped Here’, and within a week, I was talking to an admission counselor,” she recalled. She is now a Tower Scholar majoring in international studies and world languages, with an eye toward a future in national security and foreign policy.