More than 750 students will participate in 34th Commencement exercises at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs May 23.<\/p>\n
Commencement ceremonies will begin at 11 a.m. May 23 at the World Arena, I-25 and Lake Ave., Colorado Springs. UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak will provide the commencement address.<\/p>\n
CU President Bruce Benson will offer remarks. Members of the CU Board of Regents will also attend and will present Tom Saponas, Colorado Springs, with the Distinguished Service Citation, and Colorado native Peter Teets with the University Medal. The University Medal is presented to a community member in recognition of service to the university.<\/p>\n
On Friday, about 750 of the 1,050 students who completed requirements for graduate and undergraduate degrees this spring will participate in formal ceremonies. The Friday ceremony will include a posthumous degree presentation to the family of Terrence Webster, Colorado Springs, who died in February following a car accident.<\/p>\n
In December, students who completed requirements in August 2007 and December 2007 participated in formal ceremonies at the Pikes Peak Center. For the academic year 2007-2008, there will be 1,732 graduates from UCCS. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was important to many of us that we preserve the tradition of allowing students to bring their families and loved ones to commencement,\u201d Chancellor Shockley-Zalabak said. \u201cBy conducting two ceremonies, students have the opportunity to share their day with those who have supported them in this journey. We will fill the World Arena with happy people who are celebrating success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selected features about the class of 2008 follow.<\/p>\n
Final exam a few shots over par<\/p>\n
Matt Pickering\u2019s final exam was a little different than most UCCS students. But so is Pickering.<\/p>\n
To complete his degree from the College of Business Professional Golf Management Program and to be eligible for PGA membership, Pickering had to play 36 holes of golf at just a few strokes over par. His scores of 77 and 75 earned him the eligibility and the respect of many.<\/p>\n
Pickering suffers from what he describes as a mild case of cerebral palsy, one that causes him to have tremors in his arms, diminishes his stamina and alters his speech. But it was not an ailment that could stop the 24-year-old from Littleton from achieving his goal, a prominent place in the golf industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll never know unless you go for it,\u201d Pickering said recently before reporting to work as an assistant pro at Harmony Golf Club near Fort Collins. \u201cTry. But don\u2019t just try. Go full out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only accommodation that Pickering received from the PGA on his playing ability test was extra time between rounds. That \u201ctreat me like everyone else\u201d attitude was something that Pickering learned early. His parents, Marilyn and Tom Pickering, Estes Park, didn\u2019t tell their first-born he was different. Instead, they provided plenty of support as he played hockey and began a junior golf program at age eight.<\/p>\n
Cut from his high school golf team, Pickering could have gotten discouraged. Instead, he worked in the cart barn for a course near the Denver Tech Center, improved his game, and set his sights on becoming a golf professional by earning the PGM degree.<\/p>\n
On May 23, Pickering won\u2019t don cap and gown. Instead, he\u2019ll likely be polishing a set of clubs, arranging tee times or organizing a tournament, all part of his job. He says he\u2019d be happy to walk across a stage with his classmates but when co-workers also had commencements to attend, Pickering volunteered to take their shifts. After all, Pickering said, he\u2019s already living his dream.<\/p>\n
Truck farm grows chemistry whiz<\/p>\n
Rosaura \u201cRo\u201d Padilla says she was not the best chemistry student when she attended Manzanola High School on Colorado\u2019s southeastern plains.<\/p>\n
That seems hard to believe given that she is a candidate for bachelor\u2019s degrees in both chemistry and biology, will earn the Latin honor Magna Cum Laude (with highest distinction) as well as department honors for her academic abilities. But Padilla is far from finished. Next fall, she will continue her chemistry studies in the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s doctoral program on a full academic scholarship.<\/p>\n
Not bad for a farm kid who helped pay school bills by working the family farm and later selling produce at the corner of Academy and Chelton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a customer once who told me I needed to do something with my life other than sell watermelons,\u201d Padilla recalled recently. \u201cImagine their surprise when I told them I was going to UCCS and hoped to earn a PhD and to be a university professor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Padilla is full of surprises. She, and her older sister, Rocio, are the first two members of a family that immigrated from northern Mexico, becoming citizens in 1999, to graduate from college. A younger brother, Roberto, is a UCCS junior. The threesome began a tradition of bringing fresh produce to class, much to the delight of students and faculty alike. The feeling was mutual.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy freshman year, Dr. Schoffstall (professor of chemistry Al Schoffstall) introduced me to his research lab,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cIt was the best thing that could have happened to me. What my parents couldn\u2019t do, he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
–MORE–<\/p>\n
Padilla credits her parents, Manuela and Felipe Padilla, with providing her values such as a work ethic, high standards, and respect for education. She credits Schoffstall with opening her eyes to the academic world.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father has a third-grade education,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cI know he didn\u2019t necessarily understand when I wanted to attend a chemistry research conference out of town. But he supported me and made it possible for me to go. I remember he sold a cow. And gave me the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving to a big city and one of the nation\u2019s most prestigious universities this summer makes Padilla a little nervous. But she\u2019ll be back, she says, returning to communities like Manzanola to highlight the importance of education and the opportunities that exist for young people who concentrate on their schoolwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowledge is yours forever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Philosophy grad begins college career with self examination<\/p>\n
Alex Matheson did not begin his college career with a freshman beanie.<\/p>\n
Instead, the 26-year-old who will graduate May 23 with degrees in English and philosophy began classes with an ankle-bound electronic monitoring system, a condition of his parole following a conviction for second-degree burglary and a four-year residency in the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n
The ankle bracelet likely set him aside from his classmates. But so did his attitude about his studies.<\/p>\n
He earned awards from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences for his research as well as his introspection. His senior thesis explored prison reform from the perspective of someone who had experienced it, experiences that later led to meetings with prison wardens about his ideas and a goal to pursue a master\u2019s degree in social work at the University of Washington — with the permission of parole officials, of course.<\/p>\n
Matheson hopes to work to help prisoners re-integrate into society, again something he knows about first-hand. And with national rates of criminal recidivism at all-time highs, he\u2019s hoping to make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter almost four years in this environment (prison), I was sent to community corrections for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program,\u201d Matheson wrote. \u201cI was with eleven other prisoners from the Department of Corrections in the rehabilitation program, ten of which have since either relapsed on drugs\/alcohol or gone back to jail or prison, most for both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matheson favors Buddhist philosophies and French existentialists, theories and authors he discovered in prison and that he credits with helping become more in touch with his emotions. He also credits family who supported his decision to go to college and his job as a tile installer which helped pay the bills.<\/p>\n
Matheson says he\u2019s looking forward to making a living with his mind, something that education will allow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prison environment has been a place to punish and continues to serve that purpose,\u201d he wrote. \u201cRecidivism rates continue to rise along with prison populations across the United States. With over two million people incarcerated in our country, it is safe to say that the way we deal with criminals in our society needs to be changed as much as the criminals themselves do.\u201d<\/p>\n
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 29 bachelor\u2019s degrees, 18 master\u2019s and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,700 students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 750 students will participate in 34th Commencement exercises at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs May 23. Commencement ceremonies will begin at 11 a.m. May 23 at the World Arena, I-25 and (Full Press Release)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pressreleases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}