By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post
More than 800 graduates attended the commencement ceremony Saturday at Fort Hays State University to honor years of work dedicated to obtaining an undergraduate degree.
Kenton Russell, FHSU faculty member in the Criminal Justice Department, said the ceremony was the eighth one he has attended, but it never gets old. Each evokes many different reactions.
“You will get tears, you will get hugs, you will get excitement and everything under the gamut as far as emotions go, but it is different every year and I like it,” Russell said. “I’m exited for my seniors … they think it has been a long haul.”
Taylor Rice, Ellsworth, said he feels his accomplishment of obtaining a degree in technology science has, indeed, been a long haul.
“I am ecstatic. This is a long time coming, so it is finally good to fulfill the dream,” said Rice, who will be moving to Tulsa, Okla., soon to start his first job as a college grad at a commercial building firm.
Chase Wiggins, Russell, manufacturing technology major, echoed Rice.
“I am feeling excited to get this over with. It has been along time coming. It is time to move on,” said Wiggins, who will be staying in Hays for the summer at an internship for a local construction company.
While some feel the time at FHSU has been long, others feel the opposite.
“It has gone by too soon, and I can’t believe it’s over,” said Courtney Sargent, Wichita, communications disorders major.
The rite of passage hit others another way.
“I miss (FHSU) already,” said elementary education major Brook Whitmore. “It has hit me at different times that I am actually done. But as I was driving here today I was actually looking at my aunt and uncle and said, ‘You know, I’m ready to get my master’s.’ ”
Proud parents, family members and friends filled the seats to capacity at FHSU’s Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Terri McNeal had tears in her eyes as she anxiously awaited the sight of her daughter, Sierra McNeal, who obtained her degree in social work, as the graduates began to file into the coliseum.
McNeal said Sierra is the first in the family to obtain a college degree.
“I am feeling pretty emotional. … My baby is graduating. I feel very proud,” McNeal said.
FHSU Interim Provost Chris Crawford told the crowd the university recognized 3,347 graduates in all this year, including those who obtained advanced degrees and graduated from the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Sciences. Those graduates were honored in separate ceremonies.