Two highly involved students plan to commemorate the 141 st spring commencement at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with their commencement speeches.
Justine Braun and Mariah McMullen were both chosen as this year’s student speakers. Braun will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony; McMullen will speak at the 2 p.m. ceremony. The ceremonies will be held May 16 at Kolf Sports Center, 785 High Ave.
Braun is a radio-TV-film major from Neenah who has been been a big part of Titan TV on campus. She is the station manager and has also served as the operations manager.
Braun said she initially chose UW Oshkosh because of its close proximity to her home, but decided to stay after she found her place on campus.
“As you’ll hear in my speech, it was a rough start for me at UWO, but once I found my major and my passion at Oshkosh it was life changing,” Braun said. “The things I learned on this campus and the skills I now have were not necessarily from the classroom, but were from the environment of continuing education and practicing outside the classroom. UW Oshkosh and radio-TV-film has set me up for my career and my life.”
Unlike Braun, McMullen isn’t from the area, but her passion for running brought her to UW Oshkosh from her home town of Byron, Illinois to pursue cross-country and track and field.
“I knew I wanted to run in college and go into education,” McMullen said. “Because UWO had both programs, and both were very successful programs, it was the perfect fit for me. I knew this was the place I wanted to start the next chapter in my life, and I am very thankful I made that decision.”
In her commencement speech, McMullen plans to reveal the four biggest life lessons she’s learned from her time at UW Oshkosh.
“I chose this focus because I wanted to be able to connect with everyone in the audience,” McMullen said. “The teacher inside me hopes to at least inspire at least one person in the crowd to become a better person.”
Anxious, but excited, McMullen said her goal is to land a teaching job in Wisconsin by the start of the next school year.
Braun said she already has an internship lined up after graduation.
“I am starting my path toward my career by interning in interactive media and promotions at WAOW-TV 9 in Wausau, WI,” Braun said. From there I look to be a TV producer and hope to some day work at Wisconsin Public Television.”
Both student speakers agreed that the feeling of community that UW Oshkosh provides makes it a unique and collaborative social learning environment.
“UWO has enough students to feel like a big campus, but the size and connectedness of campus makes it feel like home,” Braun said. “Oshkosh is the right size for just about everything.”
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