More than 800 students will participate in 35th Commencement exercises May 22 at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Ceremonies will begin at 11 a.m. at the World Arena, I-25 and Lake Ave., Colorado Springs.
UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak will provide the commencement address.
CU President Bruce Benson will offer remarks. Members of the CU Board of Regents will also attend will present the University Medal to Louis Johnson, Colorado Springs, and Glenn Williams, Colorado Springs. The University Medal is presented to a community member in recognition of service to the university.
On Friday, about 800 of the 1,090 students who completed requirements for graduate and undergraduate degrees this spring will participate in formal ceremonies.
In December, students who completed requirements in August 2008 and December 2008 participated in formal ceremonies at the Pikes Peak Center. For the academic year, there will be 1,850 graduates from UCCS.
“The future of our community and our region rests with these individuals,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “It is important that we celebrate their success and the choices that led them to this day. We will fill the World Arena with people happy about this day.”
Selected features about the class of 2009 follow.
LEGOs prompt 50-year-old’s return to college
Blame it on LEGOs, Marie Bush says of her decision to return to college and earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Bush, 50, says working as a volunteer with elementary school children led her to complete the engineering degree she began thirty years earlier. Bush, along with her daughter, Kaylee, started a LEGO robotics team to teach fifth-graders about science and engineering.
“I wanted to teach the kids more,” Bush said. “So I enrolled in ‘Introduction to Robotics’ at UCCS. Things kind of took off from there.”
On May 22, sporting a LEGO watch and a class of 2009 ring, Bush will join 1,090 spring 2009 graduates of the university. More than 800 are expected to participate in ceremonies scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the World Arena, adding another CU graduate to the family. Bush’s oldest daughter, Aubrey, completed a master’s degree in French at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and graduated last week.
Kaylee Bush, her partner in the first LEGO robotics team, plans to earn her degree in electrical engineering from CU Boulder in December. Bush also now directs the first LEGO Southern Colorado Regional Robotics Competition held annually at UCCS.
Though on different campuses, she and Kaylee occasionally helped each other understand complex theories or problems. And it was Kaylee who helped her mom prepare for finals. Bush recently completed her senior project, a device that monitors heat and humidity in produce shipping containers to reduce food spoilage. She proudly displays a circuit board made by her three-person team that shows the idea could work. She also credited her UCCS faculty for her success.
“I’ll never forget Professor Ciletti telling me ‘there’s good news – the math comes back,’” Bush said. “I needed that after I got 24 percent on my first calculus test.”
What’s next for the newly minted engineer? This summer, Bush will return to campus to teach “Introduction to Robotics,” the very class that launched her second college career.
She’ll bring her LEGOs with her.
Air Force nurse completes doctoral degree while deployed
Halfway around the world and in a war zone, U.S. Air Force Major Laura Lewis looked forward to the end of her shift caring for injured soldiers.
But following a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, Lewis wasn’t headed for bed. She logged on to complete coursework for a doctorate of nursing practice degree at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Friday, Lewis, a member of the first class of doctorate of nursing practice graduates, will participate in commencement exercises scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Colorado Springs World Arena. She will join more than 1,090 spring 2009 graduates of the university. More than 800 are expected to participate in ceremonies.
“Class was something to look forward to,” the 46-year-old Big Springs, Texas native said recently. “I was able to adapt what we were doing in class to what we were doing in the field. It provided me perspective.”
Lewis was sure her orders to deploy in September 2007 meant the end of her pursuit of a doctoral degree. Her faculty at the Beth-El College of Nursing had different ideas.
“When I told my adviser that I was deploying, I thought that was going to be the end of it,” Lewis said. “Her response was ‘that’s OK – we’ll find a way to make it work.’’’
The solution was the on-line DNP program, originally designed for students living in rural Colorado that was just as effective halfway around the world. But deployment wasn’t the only challenge Lewis faced while enrolled in the program. Her father died upon returning from Iraq, making her homecoming and class work more difficult.
“When things got really hard, I took a semester off from school,” Lewis said. “But it wasn’t long before I received an e-mail from my professor asking how I was doing and encouraging me to come back. The message I have for people who doubt if they can do this is to believe in yourself. You can do it.”
Lewis’ adviser, Mary Enzman Hines, professor, Nursing, credited Lewis’ ability to focus for her success and specifically highlighted a capstone project that Lewis completed as part of her degree requirements. The project, a program designed to enhance relationships among military couples, is both personal and practical.
“I heard from soldiers who had just been injured, maybe lost a leg, or who were suicidal, and they didn’t have anyone at home waiting for them anymore,” Lewis said. “It broke my heart. I wanted to focus my project on identifying resources for military couples to help make their relationships stronger in order to prevent that from happening.”
Lewis and her husband of 20 years, John, are also raising two sons, ages 13 and 10. They will be in the crowd Friday, cheering for Lewis as a doctoral hood is placed around her shoulders.
Ex-roofer sets sights on PhD, wants to help others
Lost, drinking heavily, and living on unemployment and Social Security disability checks, Gabriel Gates decided he needed to make a change in his life.
“I remember thinking ‘well, my eyes aren’t going to get any better,’” Gates, now 30, said recently. “I decided I’d better find a job where I can work with my brain.”
On May 22, Gates, who is legally blind as a result of a degenerative eye disease, will join 1,090 spring 2009 graduates of the university. More than 800 are expected to participate in ceremonies scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the World Arena.
Gates will earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a step in his goal to earn an advanced degree and to work either as a psychologist or as a special education teacher for the visually impaired.
“I want to give back so that the next generation can be successful,” Gates said.
Though he is earning a 3.5 (A-) grade point average and is completing an honors thesis, school was far from easy for the graduate of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind. Gates spent his youth in Trinidad, Colo., and returned there by bus on weekends following his week at CSDB.
“I spent a long time getting ready to make the transition from my old life to a new one,” Gates said. “It was a huge adjustment. Hard, physical work doesn’t even compare to the exhaustion that a dedicated college student feels.”
After working as a roofer, flat concrete worker, and spending three years as a machine mechanic for Sealy Mattress, Gates began his college career at Pikes Peak Community College in fall 2004. He transferred to UCCS in spring 2007 and quickly earned the respect of peers and professors alike as he balanced academic life with family responsibilities and volunteer work at PPCC and CSDB. Gates also worked as a research assistant investigating college student retention for UCCS and is the project coordinator of the adult blind and visually impaired role model team directed by CSDB.
He and long-time girlfriend, Gina, care for five children. The children, Angelo, Andres, Nina, Zelene and Daniel will be cheering for Gates from their seats at the World Arena.
While Gates gives his gratitude to his family, professors, and the Office of Disability Services for their support, he credits his grandmother for inspiring him to become the first in the family to earn a college degree and his desire to be a role model for his own children.
“I only ever wanted the best for my children and that is what keeps me going today,” he said. “As a father, it is my responsibility to build an empire for my children. I don’t want them to have to deal with the same adversities I experienced. I want my children to have a secure foundation, so they only have to focus on their schooling and not have to worry about outside tribulations.”
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 30 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s, and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,000 students annually.