The University of Oregon's Brass Quintet got more playing time than its members bargained for on Monday, as a longer-than-expected Duck Walk extended the lead-up to a 2013 Commencement ceremony that swung between inspirational and aspirational.

More than 5,000 graduates were eligible to participate in Monday's ceremonies at Matthew Knight Arena and around campus, and it appeared that most turned out for a final opportunity to revel with classmates and hear encouraging words from a variety of speakers.

"It's a beautiful day to be graduating from the University of Oregon," UO President Michael Gottfredson said after the Brass Quintet extended its musical interlude for the extra half hour it took for graduates to file into their allotted seats – and several extras that were hastily set up to accommodate them.

The president gave the new graduates their due, congratulating them for their accomplishments and encouraging them to be proud of themselves as they begin the next chapter in their lives.

"You did this," he told them. "No one handed it to you. No one gave it to you. You earned it, and that is an accomplishment."

Allyn Ford, the owner of a Roseburg forest products company and member of the State Board of Higher Education, suggested that life after college may not be as dire as media outlets and Internet bloggers may have their readers believe. He told the graduates to set goals for themselves and then achieve them, rather than listening to the predictions of naysayers.

"Don't let anyone tell you what you can do or how successful you can be," Ford said. "With your degree, you are in the driver's seat."

Monday's keynote speaker was Tiana Tozer, a UO graduate who was injured in a car accident involving a drunken driver during her sophomore year. She went on to become a Paralympian basketball player and a humanitarian aid worker in Sudan and Iraq.

She told the crowd that she has endured 34 reconstructive surgeries and four years of physical therapy, but has regained the ability to walk – though she thought the length of Monday's never-ending Duck Walk "was going to kill me."

Tozer sought to inspire a sense of duty in the new graduates, encouraging them to do what they can to make their world a better place.

"The most important thing is who you are inside, and the choices you make in this life," she said.

"I may not be an important person, but I have made a difference in people's lives. I've been run over by a 3,000-pound vehicle and have been in three war zones, and I'm still here today."

- from the UO Office of Strategic Communications