'Somewhere between Egypt and Kentucky': UK grad's commencement speech reaches millions

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 3, 2026) — The article below features Mostafa Mubarak, a May 2026 graduate of the University of Kentucky Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, and appears in the Summer 2026 edition of Kentucky Alumni magazine. For students who have recently arrived on campus, Mubarak’s story offers a timely reflection on finding belonging, building community and embracing all that UK has to offer.

Read the full article and more at www.ukalumni.net/s/kentucky-alumni-online-magazine. 

****

By the time Mostafa Mubarak reached the end of his Commencement speech inside Rupp Arena this spring, thousands of graduates were hanging on every word.  

Then the internet discovered him.  

Within days of the University of Kentucky’s May 2026 Commencement ceremonies, Mubarak’s speech was viewed by millions across TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook. Students reposted his jokes. Alumni shared quotes alongside messages about why they loved UK. Others praised the way he described the kindness of Kentucky. Egyptian media outlets and social accounts shared the story of a student coming to the United States alone and graduating with three engineering degrees from UK.  

The YouTube video quickly surpassed 61,000 views and generated hundreds of comments. A clip shared by the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering also surpassed 1 million views on Meta.   

But before the speech went viral, Mubarak was simply one of UK’s newest graduates — an international student whose story quickly resonated far beyond campus.  

“I came to the University of Kentucky from Egypt when I was 17 years old,” Mubarak told graduates. “I was alone, with $1,000 in cash and barely enough English to survive a conversation.”  

By graduation, he had earned degrees in electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science from the Pigman College of Engineering. He founded a startup, Jomo Figures, and co-founded the Student Association of the Middle East and North Africa.  

Outside the classroom, he served as a promotions lead and main fighter for the UK Boxing Club and volunteered with UK’s International Village program, helping incoming international students adjust to campus life.  

Finding belonging 

During his speech, Mubarak intentionally avoided framing his success as a solo journey.  

“I could give you the version of the story where I arrived alone, fought through it in silence, and clawed my way to three engineering degrees through sheer grit,” he said. “Frankly, people would love it. But that’s just not the truth. I was never alone.”  

Instead, Mubarak spoke about the people who helped shape his experience — professors, advisors, friends and strangers who stepped in before he even knew how to ask for help.  

On his first day at UK, Mubarak walked to Target looking for groceries. Having never heard of the store before, he recognized exactly one thing inside: Kit Kats. He bought several, placed them in a bowl in the common area of his dorm and left behind a handwritten note:  

“A gift to my new family.”  

“At the time,” he admitted, “I did not have a family here. I was getting ahead of myself.”  

But that small gesture became the foundation for a philosophy that guided his entire college experience.  

“Give something. Don’t overthink it. And be a little surprised when something comes back.”  

Mubarak balanced humor with sincerity. One moment, he joked about thinking UK’s Canvas learning platform was an actual person named Canvas. The next, he reflected on making a conscious decision not to shrink himself in an unfamiliar culture.  

“By every logical measure, I could have let myself be perceived as an outsider,” he said. “Instead, I decided to take everything this place had to offer unapologetically — without shame, without waiting for an invitation.”  

Mubarak described becoming close with a fellow student named Caleb, whose family eventually embraced him as one of their own after learning his parents would not be able to travel from Egypt for Family Weekend.  

“She calls to check on me,” Mubarak said about Caleb’s mother. “She rescued me when my car got totaled. She invites me over for Christmas and makes sure I have presents under the tree.”  

Finding family 

Then came the story that seemed to strike the deepest chord.  

Mubarak recalled breaking down near campus after his car radiator exploded. An older Kentuckian mowing grass nearby stopped to help. The two struggled to understand each other’s accents before eventually laughing through the confusion.  

“That was it,” Mubarak said. “We were friends from then on.”  

The man drove him to buy parts, helped repair the car and paid for everything himself.  

“He didn’t ask for a dime,” Mubarak said. “Because that’s just what Kentuckians do.”  

That quiet generosity of Kentucky became the emotional center of his speech.  

“There is something about the people here,” Mubarak said. “A kind of instinctive generosity that doesn’t need context. You don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to earn it. You just have to be present.”  

Mubarak’s message had become much larger than his own story. He encouraged graduates to stop waiting for certainty before pursuing the life they want.  

“Good things do not come to people who grind in silence, play it safe or wait to be ready,” he said. “They come to people who are already in motion.” 

As his speech came to a close, Mubarak reflected on his journey.  

“Somewhere between Egypt and Kentucky, between Target and Blazer Hall, between three engineering degrees and one very regrettable car purchase, I learned this: the world has way more room for you than you think.”  

Then, with one final callback to the bowl of Kit Kats that helped him find community during his first week on campus, he offered graduates a final piece of advice:  

“Buy a bowl of Kit Kats,” he said. “And trust that all the good things meant for you will come without you even having to chase them.”  

Inside Rupp Arena, the crowd rose to its feet.  

As clips from the speech continued spreading online, comments poured in from students, alumni and strangers across the globe. Some praised Mubarak’s delivery. Others connected with his story as an international student navigating a new country far from home. Many simply said the speech made them proud to be part of the UK community.  

His story reflected the version of UK that alumni often describe: a place where people from vastly different backgrounds find opportunity, connection and community. A place large enough to change lives, yet personal enough to make people feel seen.  

Every Commencement season brings stories of achievement and possibility. But occasionally, one graduate captures something harder to define — what it means to leave Kentucky while carrying a piece of it with you.