The University of Idaho will host the second annual University Convocation today. Kevin Ketchie, assistant to the president, said convocation is a way for UI to officially begin the new academic year.
“It’s just an opportunity to hear the president’s vision for the coming year and also to hear the convocation speaker Rayce Bird, who’s actually an alum,” Ketchie said.
The event will take place at 8:30 a.m. in the Kibbie Dome and is open to all students, their families, faculty and staff.
Ketchie said that while the university has always had something similar to convocation to kick off the school year for new students, they wanted to begin a new tradition that had more pomp.
“So last year we decided we wanted to do more of a permanent figure to come in and talk and inspire our students,” Ketchie said. It’s an opportunity for the entire campus community to come together and mark the beginning of the school year.”
This year’s convocation speaker graduated from UI in 2011 and became a contestant on season two of the SyFy Channel’s reality show Face Off, which pits prosthetic makeup artists against each other to create looks like those found in science fiction and horror films.
He won the season, netting $100,000, $25,000 of makeup and a newfound recognition and credibility in the industry. But when he applied for the show, he’d never done makeup before.
“I made Halloween masks years ago out of clay as a hobby,” Bird said. “Make-up is different but there are similar processes. I had nothing to lose.”
Bird said he has learned more about his college experience since graduating than he did when he was a student.
“A lot of people out in the world are programmed, they have a certain skill set and they just hang onto it for dear life,” Bird said. “What really happens out in the world is things adapt and change all over the place — you can’t be so certain about one thing.”
Bird said he hopes his convocation speech is unique and positively impacts students.
“I just want to make sure they leave inspired and ready to take on the school,” Bird said. “I do think that everybody has the ability to knock everything out of the park.”
Bird encourages people to push themselves to be better.
“It’s okay to be uncomfortable, that’s part of it too — if things are too comfortable you aren’t doing something right, you aren’t pushing yourself,” Bird said. “I’ve learned more from my failures in life than I have from the good things that happened.”
Kaitlin Moroney can be reached at [email protected]