{"id":55511,"date":"2020-05-21T05:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=55511"},"modified":"2020-05-20T09:17:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T14:17:30","slug":"distance-doesnt-dim-graduates-joy-of-achievement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=55511","title":{"rendered":"Distance doesn\u2019t dim graduates\u2019 joy of achievement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This past weekend should have been our commencement ceremonies. During the weekend I took the opportunity to pause and reflect \u2013 <\/a>to silently express my gratitude for the students who choose to make FHSU their alma mater and for the faculty who ensured our graduates were absolutely prepared for their next adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also thought about the letter I\nsent to our graduates earlier this year, which read in part: \u201cDear Students \u2013 I\nconsider the commencement ceremonies we host each year to be among the most\nimportant and cherished traditions of this university. Commencement is the\ncelebration of a life-changing and singular achievement \u2013 one that has been\nyears and even decades in the making. Every student will tell a different story\nabout the journey to their degree, and every student will remember their\ngraduation day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter went on to explain our\ncelebratory plans. Each student will receive a regalia kit containing a gown, a\nhood (for graduate students), mortarboard, tassel, commencement program and\ndiploma in an official Fort Hays State University diploma case. Our hope is\nthat our graduates will use this kit to celebrate their achievements with the\nfamily and friends who have helped them throughout their academic careers. The university\nwill also build social media events to supplement the kit and honor our\nstudents. Though not ideal \u2013 heartfelt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am so proud of our students. And\nyet that lack of celebration not only creates a void for them but for me as\nwell. So, I did what I love to do: checked-in with some of our students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deja Brewer, Lenexa, is a student employee\nin the Geosciences Department and the president of the Black Student Union.\nDeja majored in general studies with a concentration in elementary education.\nShe loves photography and baking. Next fall she plans on attending culinary\nschool to become a chef. Deja and I have become very close over the years \u2013\never since she came to visit me to complain about my decision not to cancel\nclasses one wintry day. I truly miss seeing her on campus. Regarding commencement plans, Deja said:\n\u201cDue to the postponed graduation for seniors, my family will\nbe putting on a ceremony at home in my grandpa’s backyard for me. My family is\nmy biggest supporter, and I am the first to graduate from college, so this is a\nbig accomplishment for my family and me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nia Vasquez-Ward, Colorado Springs,\nColo., is the youngest of three children and the only girl. She is also the\nfirst to go to college in her family. She earned a degree in criminal justice\nwith a minor in psychology. Her dream is to become a probation officer. Nia has\nan amazing smile, and I bet her friendliness and graciousness will be welcomed\nby those with whom she will work. According\nto Nia, \u201cOnce my commencement kit comes in, my family has already\nplanned a photoshoot with me in my cap and gown. This is exciting because I was\ngoing to have to do photos on my own in Hays, but now I can have my family in\nthe photos, which will allow me to keep hold of special memories. I am still\ngoing to decorate my cap and save it for the new commencement date. Once this\nall passes, we will celebrate with a party.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becky Windholz, WaKeeney, put\ncollege on hold to pursue other opportunities after graduating high school,\nthen began her FHSU studies in the summer of 2013. On Sept. 13 of that year,\nher son lost his father in a tragic vehicle accident. As much as she did not\nwant to put college on hold again, she knew her son, who was only 9 years old\nat that time, needed his mother, so she stepped out for another four years. This\nspring, Becky completes an elementary education degree with a minor in special\neducation. She is looking forward to a very impactful career at Trego County\nUSD 208 as a middle school special education teacher. Becky\u2019s thoughts on commencement: \u201cWith the unprecedented times in\nour lives, I do not know when I will be walking across the stage to get my\ndiploma. However, I do plan to take my cap and gown from my commencement kit\nand have a fun photoshoot with my family to celebrate this life-long goal of\nmine. It wouldn\u2019t have been possible without their support, so we will\ncelebrate this accomplishment together, as a family. Thank you, Fort Hays. You\nwill always have a spot in my heart!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing the resiliency and pride\nthrough the voices of our students reaffirms for me the power of a Fort Hays\nState University education. For it is indeed a special privilege, one to be\ncherished. I truly hope that the commencement weekend left students feeling not\nthe sadness of a missed ceremony, but the pride and the love we, the faculty\nand staff, feel for them. We look forward to their future successes and strong\nconnections to the Fort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations graduates!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past weekend should have been our commencement ceremonies. During the weekend I took the opportunity to pause and reflect \u2013 to silently express my… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"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-55511","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\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&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\/55511","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=55511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55512,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55511\/revisions\/55512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}