I\nlove the Nelson Mandela quote, \u201cDo not judge me by my successes, judge me by\nhow many times I fell down and got back up again.\u201d That is a beautiful\ndescription of the resilience for which Fort Hays State University is known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Resilience\nis on constant display by our adult learners, who often juggle jobs, family,\nand school. There are first-generation students who struggle with the guilt of\nleaving their families and financial responsibilities at home while they\nnavigate an unfamiliar environment of higher education. There are also students\nwho have experienced a blend of failed and ultimately successful attempts on a\ngraphic design project, research project, business star-up competition, or\nrunning for a campus leadership position. At the root of resilience is grit,\ndetermination, and the patience to play the \u201clong game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nsee this quote in action every day as I listen to remarkable stories of courage\nand transformation from students and alumni as well as from faculty and staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nof the greatest privileges of being a university president is to be present to\ncelebrate our people \u2013 knowing that each diploma, each award, and every\nceremony is not only about the glorious outcome, but it is equally about the\ndiscipline of getting back up after each stumble or fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So today, I dedicate this column to the 1,178 undergraduate students and 624 graduate students who are receiving diplomas this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nstudent walking across the stage is Alec Bevis from Wichita. Alec is receiving\na bachelor\u2019s degree in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry. You may\nrecognize Alec\u2019s name as our 2022 Torch Award recipient, the highest honor for\nour undergraduate students at FHSU. The award is given on the basis of classroom\nexcellence, leadership, participation in professional organizations, and\ninvolvement in student, civic, or research activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alec\nis a team captain of our men\u2019s soccer squad and was named to the United States\nCoaches Scholar All-America Team. He has also been a highly engaged member of\nour Honors College as well as a student assistant for the chemistry department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During\nhis time at FHSU, Alec engaged in undergraduate research under the mentorship\nof Dr. James Balthazor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\nam excited to see where Alec\u2019s future takes him,\u201d Dr. Balthazor said. \u201cHe was\naccepted to a Ph.D. program in biochemistry at the University of Kansas, and he\nhas already found the girl of his dreams, as he says it. I cannot wait to see\nwhat he does as an alumnus of FHSU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nbelieve the Nelson Mandela quote is so applicable to Alec. In his own words:\n\u201cthrough soccer, I have not only learned how to persevere through strenuous\nphysical activity but also learned many invaluable life skills such as time\nmanagement and leadership, and because of it, I have formed relationships with\nfriends all around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nlove how Dr. Balthazor describes Alec: \u201cHe embodies everything I love about\nbeing a Tiger. As humble as they come, Alec doesn\u2019t think he deserves the\naccolades, but he genuinely deserves them. I will miss seeing him every day,\nand his shoes will be difficult to fill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another\nstudent walking across the stage will be Alison Helget from Hays, dogsitter for\nFHSU\u2019s \u201cFirst Dog,\u201d Dakota Grace Mason. Alison received both her undergraduate\nand master\u2019s degrees in history from Fort Hays State and is one of two\nLighthouse Award recipients, the graduate version of the undergraduate Pilot\nAward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alison\nis the perfect example of resilience and the powerful impact made by caring\nfaculty who fuel that determination when the going gets tough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce\nI started my graduate program, the professors pushed me even harder as a\nscholar, supporting me throughout several conference presentations and\npublication reviews,\u201d Alison said. \u201cWith constant reaffirmation, I began\nbelieving in myself. As a result, I have chosen to take another leap of faith\nand pursue a doctorate, something that I could not have even imagined four\nyears ago.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs\nI move on, wherever it may be, I will never forget the amazing faculty I met at\nFHSU<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and\nthe way they kept me focused, even when all odds might have been against me,\u201d\nAlison continued. \u201cWhen I hit rock bottom, the history department took me in\nand has since watched me transform from a timid girl into a strong, independent\nwoman, who is proud to call herself a Tiger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary\nKathy Robb, also a Lighthouse Award recipient, is graduating with a Master of\nFine Arts with an emphasis in ceramics. Artists are often known for their\ndiscipline as well as for their persistence \u2013 doing something that is difficult\nor even opposed by other people. Artists make us stop and think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda\nGanstrom, professor of ceramics, said that Robb captures these qualities well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKathy\nis an early riser and was often in the studio hard at work as I started my\nday,\u201d she said. \u201cShe is helpful, challenging, and encouraging of her fellow\nartists. Kathy has big ideas, gained the skill to realize them, and put in the\nhard work to bring her dreams to life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs\na child, she was a dancer and performer,\u201d Professor Ganstrom continued. \u201cShe\nwas expected to build a successful corporate career but never found the\nsatisfaction she had felt in her creative endeavors. So, she went back to\nschool and learned the skills she needed to express herself and tell her\nstories of love, danger, abuse, and fear.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kathy\nRobb\u2019s decision to leave her corporate career and pursue her passion propelled\nher into the world of art. That led her to FHSU, where she fully engaged the\nopportunity to develop her potential and skills as an artist. She has become an\ninfluencer, a cultural provocateur. She uses her art to help people understand\nthat we are all on this planet together and should be appreciative and help\neach other survive and thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Woven\ninto all three of these stories \u2013 and I would bet of the lifeline of every Fort\nHays State student \u2013 are moments of falling down, getting back up, learning,\nand growing. And sharing the floor of the coliseum with our graduates this\nweekend will be our outstanding professors \u2013 the people who helped to get our\nstudents across the stage amidst their own \u201cmoments of getting back up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love the Nelson Mandela quote, \u201cDo not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back… <\/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-64984","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\/64984","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=64984"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65015,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64984\/revisions\/65015"}],"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=64984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}