Last Friday, nearly 450 Fort Hays State University graduates crossed the stage at our first fall commencement ceremony. One of the greatest privileges afforded a university president is conferring degrees, which represent the success and accomplishments of our students. Commencement also acknowledges the caring work of our faculty and staff, who nurture, facilitate and inspire the dreams of our graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I cherish the privilege of shaking the hand of every student,\ngreeting them with a warm smile and saying, \u201cWell done.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the United States, less than half of adults earn an\nassociate or bachelor\u2019s degree; slightly over a third have a bachelor\u2019s degree,\nand about 13 percent has earned a master\u2019s, doctorate or professional degree. Over\nthe years, our degree programs and our students have become more complex. Industry\nand professional fields often require competencies that involve field\nexperiences, additional advanced knowledge or other activities, and students of\nvarying ages juggle multiple life priorities. The traditional pathway \u2013 start\nin the fall and graduate four years later in the spring \u2013 does not apply for\nmore and more students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most college graduates, the academic journey is\nsprinkled with opportunities for self-discovery and growth \u2013 both personal and\nintellectual. Completing a degree is an import milestone and deserves celebration.\nIt is not only a chance for our students to feel great about beating the odds\nand completing their degrees, it is also an opportunity to thank the people in\ntheir lives who were there to support, encourage, and cheer them on throughout\ntheir college experience. This is why I was thrilled to celebrate our December\ngraduates in the moment \u2013 and not five months from now in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I love listening as students tell their personal stories and\ntalk about what a college degree means to them. Their triumphs over adversity\nare inspiring. Some beating-the-odds stories are really fun. You may recall\nthat Nola Ochs, from Jetmore, graduated from FHSU in 2007 at the age of 95 \u2013\nmaking her at that time the oldest person in the world to earn a bachelor\u2019s\ndegree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nola took her first college class from FHSU in 1930 but left\nto raise a family. In 1978, Nola decided it was time to finish what she had\nstarted and began taking classes. Eventually, she earned an associate degree\nbefore moving 100 miles from the family farm to live on campus at Fort Hays State\nto finish her bachelor\u2019s. After that, she went on to earn a master\u2019s from FHSU in\n2010, defying the odds \u2013 again \u2013 at age 98 and proving one is never too old to\ngo to college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last Friday, another graduate in his 90s officially became\nan alumnus. Willie Pfeifer, 91, an engaged Hays citizen and a renowned\nwoodworker, received his associate degree even though he was unable to cross\nthe stage that day. He graduated in 1946 from St. Joseph\u2019s Military Academy and\nattended FHSU from 1946-1950, studying industrial arts. He loved woodworking\nand highly valued the mentorship of professor Ed Davis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fort Hays State was founded as a normal school (teacher\ntraining), and most of our degree programs back then prepared students for the\nteaching profession. While teaching is a noble and important profession, after\nthree and a half years of college, Willie had no intention of being a teacher.\nHe wanted to get married and had a great job offer as a shop foreman. So\ninstead of spending his last semester student teaching, he left to marry, raise\na family and use his knowledge in woodworking to remodel churches and create\nart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willie calls his decision to leave college without a degree\na case of being \u201chard-headed.\u201d It was a decision that always bothered him. Over\nthe years, he became more aware of the importance of a college degree. He said\nhis years taught him that no matter how sophisticated or how bright you are, a college\ndegree can open doors for you. He came to realize that his time in college\nhelped him in his relationships with people, shaped his motives for living and developed\nhis train of thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His college courses, he believes, made him a better, more resourceful person and taught him to think on his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After learning of Willie\u2019s story from an admirer of his art,\nwe reviewed his transcript and realized he qualified for an associate degree. I\nimagine his diploma will be displayed in a beautiful wooden frame and provide a\nwell-deserved sense of accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although every student\u2019s journey is different, the common thread at Fort Hays State University is our ethic of care, academic quality, and relentless focus on making a difference in our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last Friday, nearly 450 Fort Hays State University graduates crossed the stage at our first fall commencement ceremony. One of the greatest privileges afforded a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Tisa-191219-Celebrating-graduation.jpg?fit=1800%2C1350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52096,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52094\/revisions\/52096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}