Dr. Sima Lal Gupta ’99, health services director of Aletheia House in Birmingham, served as the 2022 Honors Day Convocation Speaker, a role that a Birmingham-Southern graduate assumes every year on Honors Day to present a message to the next class of alumni. Read Gupta’s speech below, and learn more about her work in our alumni feature.

• • •

Good morning! What an amazing honor to be here today. Thank you President Coleman for that introduction, and thank you to you and Provost Tim Smith for the invitation to speak today. I’m Dr. Sima Lal Gupta, an alumna of Birmingham-Southern, Class of 1999. I want to especially recognize this honor after two years of COVID forcing cancellation of these types of once-in-a-lifetime events. Thank you for inviting me to help get us back to some type of a new normal. I would also like to acknowledge the distinguished faculty of Birmingham-Southern who have been so instrumental on my journey, as well as fellow alumni. I also want to take a moment to thank the parents, grandparents, and family members that made today happen for our graduates. Even after all these years, my parents and sister are sitting here in this auditorium supporting me still. As we take a moment to appreciate faculty and family, I want to share a tradition from Indian culture: it is customary for children to touch the feet of their elders. It is a sign of respect and recognition of the elders’ wisdom. Students also do this to their teachers. This sign of humility and respect has always struck me deeply. It is a reminder that without someone else’s love, guidance, support, and probably some money too, most of us would not be in this room today. So graduates, I encourage you to find your own sign to show appreciation to those who helped you along the way.

I saved recognizing the best for last: you graduates. You have been to college through a global pandemic. You have had classes cancelled; the campus shut down. You may have been sick yourself or helped take care of a loved one who was. Yet you have persevered. I hope the few words I share with you today will have some impact on your life, even if it is just to make you think back and smile.

What makes today extra special for me is that I missed my BSC graduation. I was away in Spain that semester on a Rotary Scholarship. During my Honor’s Day Ceremony, I sat somewhere near the Mediterranean and toasted my years at the Hilltop and all it meant to me… and at that time, I was completely unaware of what it would continue to mean to me! So thank you Class of 2022, for allowing me to live a little vicariously through you and share your graduation day.

Now, I have thought about this speech for weeks. When I first received Provost Smith’s invitation, I had to re-read the email to make sure I was understanding it properly! I was overwhelmed, moved, nervous – almost any synonym that goes with my stomach was flipping inside out. I thought out of all of the ocean of people, why did this prestigious college, this place I hold in such high regard, choose me? I had to remind myself, I want to remind you all also that you are each capable of something amazing. You earned it! You put in those sweat and tears. You did the work. Perhaps there was a sprinkle of luck too. I realize now that is why I am here today: to share a story of an ordinary person who has been able to do extraordinary things, and how I hope to empower you to do the same.

While preparing this speech, I had the opportunity to reflect on my years at BSC. I realized that since my time here, a common thread in all of my endeavors has been service. During my time at the Hilltop, I was involved everywhere. I was on the dance team, a work study in the admissions office, a resident advisor, a sorority member. I went on two service-learning trips, volunteered with Meals on Wheels and a local women’s shelter. I look back at it and am exhausted just thinking about it. What was the purpose of all that, and all while trying to maintain a strong GPA? I realize now that BSC encouraged me to search for what I enjoyed, what spoke to me. I learned how to balance much more than just good grades.

After an interim in Zimbabwe, I felt the most connected with people as we worked towards something together, something to improve a person’s quality of life. Another interim in India taught me so much about socio-economic tiers in society and at each person’s heart, we are all the same – we want health for our family, enough food to eat, and a chance at some level of happiness. In Honduras during my time in optometry school, I felt that same common thread, a desire for contentment and purpose. I felt compelled to seek that out professionally and to always strive for that personally. That desire to contribute positively to the lives of others – that started right here at BSC.

But I struggled with how to do that and still earn well and maybe even have a family. As an eye doctor, I found contentment when performing eye exams on children and giving them their first pair of glasses and seeing the expression change on their face. I had a child tell me he could see leaves now, before he only saw green smudges against trees. I wanted to bottle up that feeling. I wanted to do more of that, more than just one patient at a time. I wanted to do it for communities. With the American Public Health Association, I got involved in a program called “Healthy Eyes/Healthy People.” This concept of prevention became my new mantra, but beyond only vision. Awareness and education, healthy populations, billions of dollars in potential savings in health care – all if we went to a preventative model. I was mesmerized. Let’s prevent all of these now called “lifestyle” diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Let’s help everyone quit smoking and end the obesity epidemic. I was on that train! I wanted to be the conductor!

But then I had an abrupt reality check – people are too busy living their lives to think about prevention. We don’t make time to take care of ourselves until we are sick. And that is us, the educated and opportune. Imagine what the undereducated and underserved are experiencing. That was where I felt my work needed to take me. With each and every patient I saw while practicing as an optometrist in the U.S., with each and every lecture I taught while an educator in India, my goal was to improve quality of life with each encounter. Did I help them see? Did I teach them how to avoid an infectious disease? Did I empower them even a little to live a better life?

At the peak of the pandemic, in 2020, my family and I returned to the U.S. after living seven years abroad. While living in India, I served as associate professor of public health and director of the School of Optometry at a college outside New Delhi. That experience validated for me that my heart was in public health. My goal was to serve and to inspire others to do the same.

My husband, who is here today with our three young children, saw that thread of service in my actions. As we planned to live those years in India, he wanted to make an impact, something our children would remember. With his entrepreneurial mind and new passion for service, we founded an organization called Make Women Safe. We helped pass a law in India to benefit victims of assault. Now, you can imagine, getting a law passed in any country seems insurmountable – but India? With 1.3 billion people! Even when I doubted – can we really do this – he said if not us, then who? It echoed the words of American Civil Rights leader John Lewis, and others including Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. We have education. We have enough to eat. We have our health. He asked me: are we waiting for the rickshaw puller to make these changes? That man is working to feed his family for that very same day. That man does not have shoes. Again, if not us, then who?

We took our kids on rallies with us. Our four-year-old and two-year-old were there as we got petitions signed. Though I was nervous about it at that time, when I look back at it, I think it is one of the greatest gifts we could have given them. There are many ways to serve: not only by writing a check, it can be giving of your time, giving a bit of your expertise and experience. You can serve once a month, once a year, or you can incorporate some bit of service into each and every day.

When I found the opportunity with Aletheia House, the non-profit organization I am part of now, I felt like so many pieces fit together. I had the chance to use my medical and public health knowledge and combine that with my spirit to serve the most vulnerable populations. I do believe the stars aligned, and some of that hard work and a sprinkle of luck. I have been able to add service into my career. That leads me to want to share one more secret to success. Surround yourself with people smarter than you. They will push you to be your best self. In my current role as Health Services Director, I am encouraged and challenged every day by a team smarter than me. I appreciate that. That “village” you hear so much about; the one that it takes to hold you up and makes you be your best: it keeps growing. Collect those people.

So here I am: with you on your graduation day. What I really want to entrust you all with is that you have every opportunity ahead of you! Never doubt your potential and never accept mediocrity. You have worked much too hard for that. Make your mark in the world. You are soon to be a Birmingham-Southern graduate. With that title comes the support of a faculty, friends and an administration for a lifetime. And I am not exaggerating. I want to share an example of my continued correspondence with Dr. Schedler through the decades. Believe me, or better yet, just ask him – I was not his best student. But I was diligent. I would be in that lab until the fumes got to my head! I did the work – though I barely ever got an A. But he saw something in me – and continues to still. He’s kept track of my life and my achievements all these years. Another example of how this institution will be a significant part of your life is the alumni connection. I returned to Birmingham 20 years after I left. As soon as I mention to someone I am a BSC grad, they immediately hold me in high regard or offer to introduce me to someone. What a wonderful way to be welcomed back to the community.

I have achieved traditional successes in my life thus far and am proud of that, but in the big picture, I am most content with the fact that I am making a mark – in some small way – I am creating social impact. That seed of incorporating service in my life that was planted here all those years ago, has truly flourished into a lifelong endeavor. And I sincerely hope that along your path, you will also find a way to use all your gifts, those earned and given: your gift of education, your gift of health, your gift of ability to serve in a positive way to the life of others. Now go out there and make your mark on this world; make it better than you found it. Congratulations Birmingham-Southern Class of 2022. Forward Ever!

• • •

Read about the Honors Day Convocation and awards given here.