Temperatures in the teens and a wind chill around zero didn’t dampen the warmth that filled Kolf Sports Center Saturday morning as University of Wisconsin Oshkosh celebrated its midyear commencement.
More than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students received degrees during the ceremony that began at 9:30 a.m. on the UW Oshkosh campus.
The December 2015 graduating class included more than 900 undergraduate and 135 graduate students — bringing the UW Oshkosh alumni base to more than 88,000.
Graduation was going to be the highlight of Deborah Wagner’s weekend. But as the West Bend woman walked across the stage to receive her degree in special education, someone stepped out to surprise her. Wagner’s son, Justin, a lance corporal in the U.S. Marines, had flown home from North Carolina to attend the ceremony.
Justin said he told a lot of people he was coming home, but not his mom.
“I walked across the stage, hugged my professor and there he was,” Deborah said.
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Graduate Kattie Gregor, of Berlin, said the University provided her with a community of colleagues as she pursued her degree in elementary education with a minor in mathematics education from the College of Education and Human Services.
“I know I will be able to keep these colleagues as I pursue my career and we’ll be able to share resources and ideas,” she said.
Gregor has already secured a substitute teaching position in a second-grade classroom in the Neenah School District.
“It’s just what I wanted,” she said.
And although she walked across the stage and received her diploma on Saturday, Gregor said her education isn’t complete. She plans to return to the university to receive a master’s degree in educational leadership so she can help teach the next generation of teachers.
“You go into teaching because you love to teach, you love to learn and you love kids,” Gregor said. “This is a passion of mine.”
College of Business graduate Josh Moeller, of Mukwonago, said he’s not the same person he was when he began his studies 4 1/2 years ago at UWO.
“I grew up,” he said. “I got my priorities straight and found my passion.”
Moeller graduated with a degree in finance with an emphasis on supply chain management. He said he is applying for jobs and wants to work for a while, although he’s interested in teaching business at the college level and may return some day to earn a master’s degree.
Jennifer Pasch, of Manitowoc, spent the last four years working toward her master’s degree in reading from the College of Education and Human Services.
“My passion is reading and I want to know all the strategies so I can use those when I work with students in my classrooms,” she said.
Pasch attended a hybrid program that included classroom and online courses. She said her professors understood that their students had other commitments and helped her be successful in the program.
Tonya Hardin, of Kimberly, said professors in the Arts and Communication Departments helped her succeed as she worked toward a degree in art education through the College of Letters and Science and the College of Education and Human Services. Hardin is certified to teach K-12 art education, and she hopes to land a job in a middle school in the Fox Valley.
The two-hour commencement ceremony was held in Kolf Sports Center, 738 High Ave.
Diplomas were conferred by UWO Chancellor Andrew Leavitt. Dignitaries in attendance included U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, and Michael M. Grebe of the UW System Board of Regents.
Community leader Walter Scott (Scotty) Jr. received the Chancellor’s Medallion
Student speaker Lauren LaDell, who graduated Saturday with a communications major from the College of Letters and Science, said the support she received from UW Oshkosh gave her the confidence to follow her dreams.
“As we celebrate today, with our caps and diplomas, we recognize that we have so much to look forward to,” LaDell said. “We all desperately want to matter, to be successful, to leave our personal brand on the world because we are part of it.”
The University believes each student is capable of achieving his or her goals, she said.
“Each and every day we feel this confidence at UWO — a university that does not provide merely a glimpse into the future, but an endless corridor of open paths that invites students to engage with the world,” she said.
“I hope we never forget to create new visions and aspire to fulfill existing ones,” LaDell said. “We can work to allow our world of imagination to turn into a reality. So let us dare to be fearless.”
Judy Westphal, a faculty member from the College of Nursing, urged graduates to take time throughout their lives to savor the simple moments.
“Graduates, when you stop and reflect on your experience as a student, did you enjoy the journey?” Westphal asked.
It is easy to get caught up in the tests, the work, the deadlines and due dates, she said, but when we look back over our lives, it is the moments outside the work that we remember.
“Did you discover something new, exciting or unusual?” she asked. “Did you meet new people.”
Maintain an open mind and a curious nature, Westphal told graduates, “along with a willingness to slow down to experience these moments.”
Two graduates of the College of Nursing helped each other through thick and thin during the past three years.
Heather and Adrian Willett met at UWO and were married 2 1/2 years ago. They worked toward their BSN degrees together, including one year while Adrian was deployed to Japan with the Air National Guard.
“We were able to keep on track and graduate together,” Heather said.
“UWO is very military friendly,” Adrian added.
Adrian plans to look for a nursing position with the Army Reserves and Heather will seek a nursing position in the Oshkosh area.
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