By Crystal Baity and Jules Norwood
At Minges Coliseum on Friday morning, more than 2,000 Pirates entered as students and left as graduates, marking the culmination of years of hard work and study. Some will enter the workforce, while others will continue their studies, but they all join the ranks of East Carolina University alumni.
“Today you become a part of the history and legacy of this great university,” Chancellor Cecil Staton told the graduates. “We’ll be pulling for you every step of your journey. In fact, we are counting on you to show us the way to a productive and meaningful future for our communities, our nation and even the world.”
With his bachelor of science degree in hand from the College of Engineering and Technology, graduate Eric Taylor of Tarboro will begin his career in Charlotte after accepting a position as operations manager for J.B. Hunt. He leaves Sunday for orientation in Georgia, and said he will carry with him the lessons of his professors.
“One in particular,” Taylor said. “Ms. Jeanne Lawrence – she’s tough but she means well in everything she does.”
Staton thanked all of the university’s faculty and staff for their commitment and passion, and recognized the contributions of the graduates’ parents, family members and friends.
Following remarks from student body president La’Quon Rogers, faculty chair Dr. John Stiller and Board of Trustees chair Kieran Shanahan, Staton introduced the 2017 fall commencement speaker, John Clark.
Clark is a 1996 graduate of the School of Communication and is the senior vice president of sales and operations for Fenway Sports Management and the Boston Red Sox. He urged the graduates to make the most of their opportunities.
“What you’ve done for yourself over the last four, five or maybe six years … is to give yourself the opportunity for the future,” Clark said. “In my opinion there’s no greater loss than a missed opportunity.”
Briefly describing some of the ups and downs of his life and career, he told the graduates, “Regardless of your passion – medicine, acting, music, finance – find a way to weave it into your career, and you’ll have a lot more fun chasing the opportunities.”
For Carolyn Wanczyk, who earned her master of business administration, that passion is for learning itself. A physical therapist, she said the degree could help if she takes a management position, but her main reason for returning to school was to challenge herself in the pursuit of knowledge.
Cristine Tugwell earned her master’s degree in adult education, some 40 years after receiving her baccalaureate. A nurse with Veterans Affairs, she hopes to retire and put her new degree to use teaching in the community college system.
As a student in an online program, commencement was one of only a few visits to campus, including a recent trip to present her portfolio. “Today is a lot less stressful!” she said.
In what he calls his most difficult challenge to date, Greenville’s Mike Harmon graduated with his second bachelor’s degree – this time in nursing. He received a degree in rehabilitation studies in 2012 from ECU, but opted to return after working in the medical field and as an emergency medical technician since 2007.
“Health care is definitely where I want to be,” said Harmon, 29. “There were several times where I questioned whether I was going to see this day or not. It’s definitely something you have to work for. You can’t just show up and go to class.”
After Harmon takes the NCLEX, a standardized exam that each state board of nursing requires for entry-level practice, he is looking forward to working in the emergency department at Vidant Health starting in February.
From being a student to becoming a teacher, Morgan Taylor of Greenville graduated cum laude with a degree in elementary education from the College of Education. “I think I always knew I wanted to do it,” she said. “I like being able to influence the lives of kids.”
She will teach fourth grade at Chicod, where she attended elementary school, one of many alumni in her family. Her great-grandmother was in the school’s first graduating class. Taylor will teach alongside one of her own former fourth-grade teachers. “It will be really cool,” she said. “It’s still the same.”
Taylor’s ECU classmate, Haley Curley of Roanoke Rapids, also will stay in Pitt County to teach fifth grade at Ridgewood Elementary in Winterville. Her mother and brother also are teachers. “I’ve always wanted to teach,” she said. “You don’t just teach the curriculum; you teach them life skills that they will need. It’s exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.”
The quote decorating Brittny Newkirk’s mortarboard expressed her thoughts about finally graduating: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Newkirk took an extra semester to graduate with a bachelor’s in public health studies after transferring from N.C. A&T, where she had started out as a nursing major. The Kenansville native has been filling out job applications and hopes to work and save money before pursuing a master’s in public health.
In the upper level surrounding the court in Minges were hundreds of proud parents, families and friends, including Joanne Biggers, whose daughter Ashlyn earned her bachelor of fine arts in ceramics.
“We are overwhelmed,” she said, already battling tears before the ceremony began. “I’m just proud of her perseverance.”
Gerlanna Patterson and her husband, Dairle Jr., and his father, Dairle Sr., of Holly Springs watched as their respective nephew and grandson, Joshua Hawkins, walked out of the coliseum as an ECU alumnus from the College of Health and Human Performance. “He’s such a sweet spirit,” Gerlanna Patterson said. “He is just so humble. He doesn’t mind sharing his talent with others.”
A second-generation graduate, he has worked with Greenville’s police academy and mentored at-risk youth while at ECU. “He’s been teaching them drumming,” she said. “We are very proud.”
Clark, the commencement speaker, admitted he didn’t remember who spoke at his own graduation, and that few at the ceremony would remember him. He asked that the graduates concentrate on making a difference after today. Rogers, representing the senior class, had a similar message.
“I encourage and challenge you to go forth and inspire, empower and influence positive change in your own way, in your own neck of the woods,” Rogers said.
Congrats to the class of 2017
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Photos by Rhett Butler and Cliff Hollis | Video by Rich Klindworth