Student Shout-Out: Spring 2011 Graduates!

There is, of course, only one “Student Shout-Out” appropriate for today…. and it goes to 61 people:

OUR CLASS OF 2011 COMMUNICATION STUDIES GRADUATES!

We are so happy for you and so very proud of you!  Here they are… (keep scrolling down, we graduated the largest number of students at our ceremony today!)…

Jonathan Abramson

Sharlene Alexander

Taylor Auyoung

Natalie Baryla

James Bautista

Alyssa Benavidez

Nick Benza

Haley Bettencourt

Natasha Bojkovic

Natalie Borges

Gena Brigham

Sean Burns

Isabel Campanelli

Liz Carey

Nick Carignani

Jay Chase

Kathryn Chomko

Victor Cortez

Allison Darko

Jenny Dinh

Ian Doss

Arianna Edwards

Michle Ewing

Tessa Fabre

Emma Gallagher

Emily Gann

Teresa Garcia

Sina Ghahreman

Alexandra Gnesin

Renee Gonzalez

Rashad Green

Kristina Hambali

Nichole Hathorn

Cole Hickok

Sarah Hirsch

Julie Hsieh

Lauren Jacobson

Jazzmin Johnson

Lauren Johnston

Jenna Jones

Milan Kim

Abbey Lee

Allison Lee

Katie MacDonald

Alicia Maldonado

Joy Marbello

Jackie McIntosh

Critina Nunez

Ashley Poyer

Izzy Rivero

Kelly Sanders

Nick Santeramo

Danny Sherman

Laurel Sherman

Katie Sullivan

Marissa Swiech

Krissy Synowicki

Kaivon Talai

Molly Torrence

Addysen Trumper

Ali Wasserman

Here are some pictures from the reception (wish I got more… a bit difficult to talk, hug, carry things, and snap pictures at the same time…!):

I found a few more pictures of our majors courtesy of the USF Athletics Department…

Please excuse the numerous pictures containing me (wow, I am much shorter than I picture myself to be!). Anyway, those of you who know me even a little know that I absolutely LOVE graduation.  I love the ceremony of it, I love congratulating students, I love meeting happy families.  I think that it is sometimes easy to not fully appreciate what you just accomplished.  What you achieved is something that less than 6% of the world’s population ever achieves… a college education!  One of the many reasons why I love graduation is that in some ways, it is a great equalizer.  On graduation day, the parents of the C student are just as proud as the parents of the Dean’s Medalist.  You all achieved the same thing today and your family and friends are all equally proud and happy for you, as they should be.  Graduation is not about grades and assignments, it is about the completion of a journey and the start of a new one.  I know all of our faculty members join me in giving each of you a heartfelt congratulations and wishing you the very best of luck in the future.  I hope you will look back on your time here at USF in the Communication Studies Department fondly and proudly.

On a personal note, graduation is always bittersweet for me, as there are so many of you who are graduating that I feel as though I have gotten to know very well in many classes and advising appointments over the years, and I will miss having you as students.  Which brings me to my next topic (which you had to see coming…)!

Because I run this blog, I am going to end with a shameless plug.  Please keep in touch with me.  Let me know what you are up to (here’s the plug) because I want to continue to feature alums on the blog! You will each go on to do wonderful things, and I want to hear about them and help document them.  We have a great community here and you are still a part of it and always will be.

Another plug: Remember that you can also keep in touch with the department on twitter (@USFDONSCOMS) and on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/USFDONSCOMS)!

Congratulations, graduates!!!  Enjoy the results of all of your hard work and dedication and enjoy this moment.

Oh, and because I got so many questions about it today, I thought I would also post the link to an earlier blog post that explains why professors wear different colored robes at graduation! You can check it out here:

http://blogs.usfca.edu/coms/2010/12/15/academic-trivia-3-graduation-edition-why-do-professors-wear-different-colored-robes-at-graduation/