Alfred L. Fatale III can't stop speaking in "lasts."

"Everything is so final now," said the graduating history major. "I keep thinking, 'this is the last time I ever eat here. This is the last time I'll ever be in that building.' I'm scared and sad. Four years flew by so quickly."

But Fatale made the most of his four years at Montclair State, which is why he was not only honored by the Board of Trustees with a resolution of appreciation but also was chosen as the undergraduate speaker for commencement.

During his college career, Fatale, a 2000 Bloustein Scholar, spent time as a writer for The Montclarion, a legislator for the Student Government Association, a senator on the University Senate and, for the past two years, a student trustee on the Board of Trustees.

It was his work on the Board he found most rewarding. "In my second semester I joined a few clubs, which was fun because I was getting something out of the University, but I felt like I should be giving something back," he said.

In February 2003, Fatale was on hand at a student event on campus to protest Gov. James E. McGreevey's proposed 10-percent cut to the state college and university budgets. Fatale assured his classmates that he and then-fellow student Board member Maria Tortoreto would work with the administration when decisions were made about how cuts would impact Montclair State.

Fatale was even quoted in an article that appeared in several newspapers through Gannette State Bureau saying,"We'll fight and fight. We will call, we will fax, we will mail, we will protest, we will rally, we will demonstrate until our voices are heard."

Along with helping to orchestrate a 1,000-person rally at the State House in Trenton, Fatale also testified before the legislature. "That is one of my many accomplishments at MSU I am most proud of," he said. "But I know all the students were a critical factor in receiving more money for higher education than previously projected."

For his speech before 15,000 people at the Continental Airlines Arena on May 21, Fatale will talk about not only his own leadership role but the teamwork necessary to accomplish goals. "I wanted to focus on the one core thing that represents what my college leadership has meant to the school and that is the budget crisis," he said. "I knew that I wanted to do a more traditional speech that's personal yet general enough with a message that everyone could relate to."

The message, he says, will be in the form of a metaphor. "College leadership is like pushing a rock across a field toward a perfect college society," he explains. "All student leaders push on the rock, some move it and others do not. My leadership rock has taken me from boardrooms to the State House and even to the pages of The New York Times. Yet no student is capable of picking up the rock and bringing it to the finish line. The rock will reach its end, but it will not be the last pusher's success, but all those who came before."

While Fatale is admittedly a little nervous about speaking in front of such a large audience, he is looking at it as "just two minutes of an amazing day." An amazing day capping off a successful college career that started because Montclair State "just felt right."

"I'm from South Jersey and not a lot of people from my high school were looking at Montclair State because there are other colleges closer in the area," he recalled. "I didn't even take an official tour. I walked around and knew I could see myself here. I can't imagine having been any place else."

Now that his time at Montclair State has come to an end, Fatale is looking forward to his next stop on his path to becoming a lawyer. In the fall, Fatale will attend law school at Cornell University. "That was a tough decision," he said. "I always envisioned myself being in a city environment and now I'm going to be surrounded by lakes and woods. I applied to 12 law schools and was accepted to eight and waitlisted for two. Dr. [Mary] English gave me the best advice. She said try to think for a week about each of the five I had narrowed it down to as if I were actually there now. Cornell seems to have a tight community. In a lot of ways Cornell reminds me of Montclair, with a close campus feel."

That closeness is what Fatale says he'll remember most about Montclair State. "The people I got to work with and the circle of friends that has grown--that's the most important part of the community and that's what I'm going to take with me."

While Fatale played a significant role on campus, with advocacy of student needs and rights his main goal, he says everyone can make a difference. "MSU gave me an education and I was able to really give back," he said.

Looking back on the past four years Fatale has grown in many ways. "There is not one aspect of my being that has not been touched and cultivated by the MSU experience," he said. "I find myself thinking in a better way now. I've become much more well-rounded. It's only four years but it's such a developmental time. You're always learning, and not just in the classroom. You learn about other people and, more importantly, you learn about yourself. I can't say I'm even close to the person I was when I came here. It's changed everything in my life."