For this year’s student commencement speaker, Gerald Parrott, the most important guest at the Huntsman Center on April 30 will be his 4-year-old son, Kylo.

“I want things like this to be the kind of memories he has of me,” Parrott said.

Not only did Kylo inspire Parrott’s 2026 student speaker application, but he’s also the reason Parrott returned to higher education in the first place.

Five years ago, Parrott found out he was going to be a father while sitting in a jail cell.

“That moment, something changed inside of me,” Parrott said. “For the first time in decades, I felt real emotion again.”

Parrott said he spent his 20s “chasing whatever numbed (him) the fastest.” This led to years of addiction, homelessness and repeated brushes with the law. His marriage ended, his GPA suffered, he lost his job and found himself “simply existing.”

But then came Kylo.

“I went from having no reason to do anything worthwhile ever, to having a son and having all this love in my life,” Parrott said.

The road to graduation wasn’t easy for Parrott. He returned to Salt Lake Community College with a 1.67 GPA and had to sign an academic probation contract. However, with newfound determination, he completed two associate degrees—one in psychology, one with honors in social work. In Spring 2025, he transferred to the U to study criminology.

Parrott worried that as a non-traditional student, he’d be the out-of-place “old guy” sitting in the back of class. “But people don’t feel that way here,” he said.

Other assumptions Parrott had before coming back to school were also challenged.

“I feel like people judge college students and put a lot of stereotypes on them that aren’t true,” he said. “You hear a lot of people talk about how students are just naive and they don’t know much. But that’s not the case. There’s a lot of critical thinking that goes on.”

Additionally, Parrott learned a lot about himself while earning his degree. Studying helped him learn about his capacity for discipline. His courses provided academic language to his lived experience—though he didn’t always agree with the framework or the conclusions.

“Learning about recidivism from an academic and legal perspective in addition to my own life experience was one of the things I loved about criminology,” Parrott said. “I want to bring real-life experience to the table to start changing theories that need updating.”

Law school is Parrott’s next goal, despite the challenges his prior convictions create in the admissions process. He wants to advocate for policies with more nuance that can differentiate between people who pose an ongoing risk and those who have served their time and changed.

“If you show reform, there should be a lesser amount of time before you’re actually accepted back into society without limits,” he said.

While the path for Parrott’s next steps may not be easy, neither was the path to his graduation this year.

“My story is not just about academic achievement,” he said. “It is about the reality that life does not move in straight lines. It is about not letting the worst moments of your life be your defining ones.”

“If you ever find yourself in a time where everything feels hopeless, remember this: the lowest point of your life might be the exact moment your real story begins.”

The U’s 2026 general commencement ceremony is Thursday, April 30 at 6 p.m. at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Individual college convocations, where students are recognized by name, take place on April 30 and May 1 and 2.