See Student Stories from Among the Graduating Class of December 2013

Students' stories are the heart of any Commencement, and this December 2013 graduation is no exception.

Our graduates range in age from 18-65. Some took high school courses while also attending UC in order to get a jump on their college education. Some only recently returned to school after decades in the workforce, while others are the first in their families to attain a college degree.

Other grads have earned advanced master's and doctoral degrees while conducting research throughout the United States and overseas, receiving opportunities to uncover new knowledge. And one doctoral student is earning the University of Cincinnati's

first

certificate in animal audiology from the College of Allied Health Sciences. This certificate program is the first of its kind and

combines the fields of audiology and veterinary medicine to meet a growing need for audiologists who can test for and diagnose hearing problems in animals, particularly dogs.

  • Eighteen-year-old Brook Kirkland achieved her associate degree only a few months after earning her high school diploma because she actually took college classes while also pursuing her high school studies thank to the Post Secondary Enrollment Options Program at UC's Clermont College.

  • At 20 years old, Wesley Fay Yount of Centerville, Ohio, is the youngest student to receive a baccalaureate degree at the December Commencement. She is earning a bachelor's degree of fine arts from UC's College-Conservatory of Music, and thanks to CCM's immersive stage management program, she has already gained a wealth of professional experience in her field.

  • Psychology major Marcia Poyser is the first in her immigrant family who was born in the United States, and is the first to graduate from college.

  • UC student athlete Elizabeth Miller is a third-generation athlete at UC. Her grandfather, Joe Miller, played football and baseball as a Bearcat, earning a spot in UC's Hall of Fame. Her father, Bill Miller, was goal keeper for the Bearcat soccer team in the 1970s, and older brother, Sam Miller, served as captain of the men's soccer team during his student days here. 

  • It's more than 30 years between degrees for this grad: Adrienne Larson earned her associate degree from UC Blue Ash College in 1978. She returned more than 30 years later to complete her bachelor's degree, which she'll receive at December's Commencement.

  • UC Carl H. Linder College of Business student Kyle Quinn, a Lindner Honors-PLUS scholar, took advantage of campus-leadership opportunities, cooperative education, and a yearlong study abroad experience in Brazil to prepare him for his career and commitment to grad school. Quinn, an accounting major, landed a dream job in the financial services tax group at PwC in Chicago. He’ll also be studying for the CPA exam while enrolled in the online Master of Science in Taxation program at the Lindner College of Business.

  • Aniruddha Deshpande, is a doctoral student who will earn UC's first certificate in animal audiology from the College of Allied Health Sciences. This certificate program is the first of its kind and combines the fields of audiology and veterinary medicine to meet a growing need for audiologists who can test for and diagnose hearing problems in animals, particularly dogs.

  • At age 65, Davis Stroop, who is earning a doctoral degree in epidemiology, will be the oldest to earn a diploma in UC's December ceremonies. And because his 1970 Commencement ceremony to mark his bachelor's degree from Ohio University was cancelled due to Vietnam War protests, Stroop's December 2013 ceremony at UC will mark the first time he has donned a cap and gown since his 1966 graduation from high school nearly 50 years ago.

  • Distance learner Doris Washington-Tucker, 59, is driving 1,000 miles to attend UC's ceremony for master's and doctoral students, having earned her master’s with an advanced nurse practitioner (NP) degree in Women’s Health from the UC College of Nursing.

Graduating Doctoral Student Did Research in Pompeii

Allison Emmerson is graduating this winter with a UC doctoral degree in Classics. After studying

tombs and identity in both Rome and Pompeii

while at UC, Emmerson is now a visiting assistant professor in Roman archaeology at Indiana University Bloomington. And, she says, her UC experiences were fundamental in that opportunity: “My fieldwork in Pompeii has been instrumental to my development as a scholar, allowing me to hone my skills at one of the most complex ‘archaeological laboratories’ in the world.” She continues, "In the future, I hope to secure a tenure-track position and to direct archaeological excavations and other field research at Pompeii as well as elsewhere in the Roman world. My time at UC, and specifically the mentorship of faculty in the Department of Classics, has thoroughly prepared me for life in academia.”

Graduating Doctoral Student Diana Hechavarria Studies Entrepreneurial Differences Between the Sexes

Diana Hechavarria, a doctoral graduate in management and entrepreneurship from UC's Carl H. Lindner College of Business, conducted research while at UC that found that when it comes to starting a business,

women are more likely than men to consider individual responsibility and use business as a vehicle for social and environmental change

. That research was published as a book chapter last year.

Diana Hechevarria, a PhD candidate in management and entrepreneurship in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business. - See more at: http://business.uc.edu/news/disciplines/management/2012/apr/entrepreneurial-differences-hechavarria.html#sthash.8b6x31xB.dpuf

RETURN

to the main Commencement news announcement.

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