2009 WGU Winter Commencement Highlights
Kingsbury Hall - Salt Lake City, Utah
Western Governors University (WGU) awarded degrees to more than 600 graduates from 45 states at its winter commencement on Saturday, January 24, in Salt Lake City. While WGU students earn their degrees entirely online, more than 80 graduates from 20 states assembled at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah, to participate in the graduation ceremonies.
In one of his first public appearances since returning to Utah, Michael Leavitt, departing Housing and Human Services Secretary and former Utah Governor, introduced McNealy and gave a brief address.
Sun Microsystems Chairman and Co-founder Scott McNealy delivered the commencement address.
Graduates, family and guests heard from four student speakers: Scott Saunders, IT graduate from Rancho Cordova, CA; Joanna Goslin, business graduate from North Bend, OR; Leila Crouse, health education graduate from Camarillo, CA; and Shari Davis, teacher graduate from Las Vegas, NV.
Scott Saunders spoke about his quest of going back to school. “As an IT supervisor for the State of California, I saw the opportunities that having a degree could offer. While my work experience and skills had always compensated for not having a degree, I wanted another promotion, and for that, I needed my degree.” he said.
Going back to school was going to be a challenge. Saunders was working 60+ hours, was married, and never liked school. But every night, no matter how exhausted he was, he came home and logged into WGU’s student portal to complete his school work. “I even watched previous commencement
ceremonies, telling myself, ‘I will walk that stage.”’“To me, this degree is more than bonus points on a resume. This journey became a way to prove to myself that I could start and finish something, and more importantly, that I am smart enough to graduate,” said Saunders. “This journey is not the end, but actually the beginning. I now like school!”
To celebrate passing his last assessment, the final “gate” to earning his degree, Scott did what he typically
does to commemorate important events in his life—he headed to the local tattoo shop. On his left bicep, he inked a graduation cap, diploma, and his graduation year to symbolize all the heavy lifting.Shari Davis, a Las Vegas substitute teacher battling cerebral palsy, had three goals when she enrolled in WGU about 2 years ago: to finish her degree, have a classroom of her own, and improve her physical condition. When she walked to the podium to deliver her commencement address, Shari had met all three of those goals. “I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in the third grade, but always let others discourage me,” said Davis. “I spent some time in a friend’s classroom who teaches 2nd grade and after that experience, I knew I needed to pursue my dream. I wanted to help children overcome obstacles.”
Davis enrolled in WGU because it allowed her to complete her degree online at her own pace. She accepted a long-term substitute teaching assignment and did her best to balance work, family, and school. Born with cerebral palsy, Sheri had watched her health and mobility decline over the years. The muscles in her body atrophied, causing severe pain in her limbs, neck, and back.
“I struggled. I became frustrated and even thought about quitting school. After giving every ounce of energy I had to my students in the classroom, I had nothing left to devote to my own education,” Davis said. “I felt like my dreams were slipping out of my fingers.
When Davis told her husband that she was ready to give up, he worked with her, and together, they implemented a nutrition and exercise plan to reverse her physical decline. She leaned on her WGU mentor and friends for guidance as she struggled to balance teaching and studying. “As an educator, I teach students to ask for help when they need it. I had to learn to practice what I teach,” said Davis. “I realized that I could not expect my students to always do their best if I wasn’t always doing mine. With determination, I knew I could make my dreams come true while inspiring my students to discover and pursue theirs.” To date, Davis has lost 61 pounds and increased her mobility from barely walking to walking over 1200 feet without stopping. Four days before traveling to Salt Lake City for graduation, Shari accepted a teaching position in a 5th grade classroom.
Leila Crouse, the mother of four and full-time working professional, spoke about the challenges as an adult returning back to school after many years. Though the adult education market is growing, she said, “our society it is still not the norm for older, working, married adults to go back to college.” As a first-generation college graduate in her family, Crouse earned her undergraduate degree from UCSB. She was burned out from school and declared never to go back to school again. She moved on to start her career in social services, which eventually lead her to the public health department where she worked as a health educator. Despite being out of school for eight years, her passion for education and prevention grew stronger. She said, “ I was growing professional and personally. I started to crave more knowledge in my field, and so I learned ‘never say never’.”
In searching for a school that offered a master’s in public health, Crouse encounter obstacles. She said, “My employer at the time didn’t want to accept a degree from a distant education program and preferred traditional schools because my employers were not up-to-date with new online programs.”
After a failed attempt, Crouse found WGU. She enrolled in WGU’s master degree program in health education. Crouse said she was often told by her bosses that education will open new doors. As a result of her WGU degree, Crouse received an unexpected opportunity – teaching health education classes at a college level.
Growing up, Joanna Goslin knew that her future would be in business. When she was four-years-old, she gathered all the books in her house and told her family that if they wanted to access their books they needed to purchase a library card from her.
Throughout her schooling, Goslin earned good grades, but never really applied herself because she didn’t like traditional school. She said, “As much as I loved business and knew that I needed an education to fulfill my dream, I also knew that traditional school was not for me.”
During her research of schools, she found WGU. “I knew right away this was the type of college I was looking for. I loved that the format allowed students to complete classes at their own pace, without having to sit in class for a certain number of hours.”
When enrolling at WGU, the 24-year old mother of three, made the determination that she was going to finish all her units in one term. She had sixteen credits from the community college transfer and set a goal to complete 106 units in six months. Since she had already developed some competencies in college, Goslin was able to move quickly through the WGU’s competency model and accomplished her goal.
Goslin recognizes that her circumstances were unique, but the characteristics that allowed her to be successful are not. She describes these characteristics as Creativity, Awareness, and Never giving up, which spells the word CAN. “I believe they are available for each of us as we move into the next phase of life.” She concluded by telling the graduates, “Wherever you go, whatever the road of life has ahead, you have already proven that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
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Mentor Spotlight: Melanie Davis
at WGU is to keep your goals in mind. That is, to stay focused on what you intend to receive from the program when you are done, but one of the best ways I’ve found of learning at WGU is to give back.