Given the road he had to travel to reach graduation, Amer Jouda has led a life that many of his fellow Grand Canyon University students couldn't imagine.
The student commencement speaker will bring a unique perspective to the Friday afternoon ceremony for students of the colleges of Engineering and Technology, Natural Sciences, and Nursing and Health Care Professions.
“I was given a formal speech format that I was supposed to follow,” said Jouda, whose ceremony is one of three over two days in Global Credit Union Arena. “If you know me, you know I don’t like following rules. I like doing things my way – the authentic way.”
Born in 2004 in Syria, Jouda said, “It is a country of beautiful culture, deep history, incredible food and people known for their generosity.”
He was 7 years old when the decades-long war and repression began in 2011. Living in an Orthodox minority community, his family awoke to the sounds of rockets, explosions, gunshots and terror. Jouda said an immigration ban for Syrians shattered his family’s dream of emigrating to the U.S.
“So we stayed, and we survived. We lost friends, neighbors and family members,” he said. “We learned something powerful – to live every single day to the fullest, to love people deeply, to care for one another, and to stop taking time and relationships for granted.”
Jouda learned that tomorrow is never promised. Even this year, as he was nominated to deliver a commencement address, he was struggling with his health.
"Even in seasons of loss or uncertainty," he said. " God still finds ways to bring light back into your life and remind you of your purpose."
At last, his family came to America in 2020. The road to get across the ocean was rocky, but he faced more obstacles almost immediately upon arrival.
“I went to high school for one week before COVID shut everything down,” Jouda said. “I had to learn English on my own, without speaking to a single person in real life.”
He finished high school with a 4.0 grade point average. After spending two years in New York, his life took a new path in 2022.
“I saw an ad for a private Christian university called Grand Canyon University,” Jouda said. “I came to visit, did the free tour, and I committed. I didn’t apply to any other college.”
He leaves GCU with a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and a 3.8 GPA. And he will step out of his analyst role in the Grand Canyon Education Security Operations Center to pursue a career in cybersecurity.
Choosing security education was a deliberate move that fits into Jouda’s core values.
“I’ve always wanted to major in the study of something that has a purpose. I don't want to do something that a lot of people do,” he said. “I went for cybersecurity because a lot of it is (that) every day you wake up, you're helping other people, or you're denying threats.”
GCU gave him much more during his years on campus.
David Richards, executive director of the Cyber Center of Excellence, believes Jouda is an outstanding young man with a drive to succeed in his studies and in cybersecurity.
"I got to know him when I was the IT Security manager at Grand Canyon Education," said Richards. As I learned more about his life and childhood, it made him even more impressive. Resilience and determination are two characteristics that I think pertain to Amer."
“Grand Canyon University didn’t just give me an education,” Jouda said. “It gave me faith. It gave me purpose. It gave me a family.”
Education and life on campus helped shape his core values.
“I have two (core values),” Jouda said. “One is that no matter what happens, you’re the one who needs to believe in yourself. The hardest battles are always you against you, not you against the world. You have to be the one who decides not to surrender.”
The second strikes at the soul of human empathy and compassion.
“My second value is to do everything with love and care,” he said. “You will never regret being the good person in everyone’s life.”
People need a purpose in life, said Jouda, “And, of course, God.”
Faith has played an essential role in his life, but his childhood experiences in Syria differ from those of the Orthodox Church in America.
“(In America), it’s definitely different churches. It doesn’t look the same,” Jouda said. “There are a lot of different names in the Bible. But it’s the same message, same stories, same everything. The names don’t translate the same from English to Arabic.”
Being here today is a reminder that even in seasons of difficulty or uncertainty, God still finds ways to bring light back into your life and reminds you of your purpose.
Amer Jouda, student speaker,
GCU Winter Commencement 2025
Although he plans to go to graduate school, Jouda wants to first enter the job market. That master's program will wait for a couple of years.
“You don’t stop learning,” he said. “Every day you wake up, you're learning a new thing. You're training for a new skill.”
It’s Jouda’s bright light philosophy that shines for him and those around him. He recognizes that there are challenges in life, roadblocks to success, and setbacks.
“Being here today is a reminder that even in seasons of difficulty or uncertainty, God still finds ways to bring light back into your life and remind you of your purpose.”
The teen who fled war, learned English, came to college, and now protects networks, campuses and people, is ready for life in the wild. GCU was a choice on instinct and became Jouda’s place where purpose and belonging aligned.
GCU News writer Eric Jay Toll can be contacted at [email protected].
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