There was a combined feeling of joy, sadness, relief, and accomplishment as 187 students officially confirmed their degrees as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore held its winter commencement exercises at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center today.
The event returned to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic start time of 10 a.m., following two commencements that started at 12 p.m.
Among the students receiving their undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees was Briana Palmore, a chemistry major from Hackensack, N.J. who garnered a 3.5 grade point average. Palmore also delivered the student commentary, which focused on reaching the next chapter after obtaining their respective degrees.
“I challenge each of you to raise the bar for yourself, raise the bar for your friends and raise your expectations for your own life,” she exclaimed to the audience. “Stop living in the past and focus on the person you are evolving into once you walk across this stage.”
Joining Palmore in the procession of newly minted graduates was Genesis Levy, a rehabilitation psychology major from Bowie, Md. Levy, who had several members of her family attend UMES, including her mother, said she always felt at home on campus.
“With the familiarity, I felt that coming here as a legacy student I knew (UMES) would definitely benefit me in the long run,” she said. “I was very familiar with the faculty and staff and people that were working with me who knew my mother to ensure that I was taken care of.”
Levy’s departure from the institution won’t be too long as she’ll be attending UMES again for graduate school.
Emily Tamosaitis, an applied design major from Princess Anne, joined the art program based on its strong reputation paired with the increased opportunity to work closely with the art instructors.
“I had heard a lot of good things about the teachers, and, because it is a smaller art program, I felt like I could connect with them more which I believe helped tremendously with my growth as an artist,” she said.
Tamosaitis, whose post-college aspirations include a career as a storyboard artist or character designer, said she was able to learn a lot from her time here.
“I feel like I had a better experience at UMES than what I would have had at a college with a larger art program because of the one-on-one connection I had with my professors,” she said. “I also had the opportunity to make lots of new friends who changed me for the better.”
Briahna Willis’s path to UMES began in Little Rock, Ark. when she began playing the sport of golf at the age of three years old, but admittedly didn’t find her passion for the sport until much later.
The decision to pursue golf heading into her freshman year of high school led Willis to become a pro golf management major and becoming a three-time scholar-athlete, two-time coach’s award winner, and 2020 team MVP for the UMES women’s golf team.
Something Willis attributed to her success was a change in her outlook on life and looking at things from a more positive perspective.
“When I was able to change my outlook, it let me know how grateful I was to be in a place that molded me to become who I am,” Willis added. “There’s something special about UMES that really changed and shifted people I know. I’ve heard a lot of people’s testimonies say the same thing. My life won’t be the same and I love this school because it has created growth in my life.”
Stacey Carver Jr., a biology major from Randallstown, Md., arrived in Princess Anne as a transfer student following two years at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
While it was a change for Carver, there was familiarity as he had attended an internship in UMES’s geoscience summer program the summer before starting college.
The decision to attend UMES was twofold as he not only sought to be closer to home but also, he had a greater interest in studying environmental science and ecology.
During his final two years, Carver joined the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, which focuses on STEM workforce needs, while also becoming an LSAMP research intern as well as a goat caretaker for UMES’s Pre-vet club.
These opportunities have allowed Carver to find a greater interest in not only pursuing a career in the public sector but a career working with animals as a behavioral ecologist.
“I really want to work with the USDA and help them with some of the research they’ve done in the shore program,” he said. “I had always considered government work, but I was sort of trying to figure out if I want to work with animals, where do I start and where do I go.
Following graduation, Carver plans to attend graduate school in addition to seeking post-graduate employment with the United States Department of Agriculture.
The ceremony also featured the graduation of the first cohort of UMES’s physician’s assistant program, which was comprised of 16 students.
Many of the students in the grouping, including Jennifer Keithly of Delmar, Md., have served in a variety of roles in the medical field before the inception of the program.
Through long hours and heavy workloads, Keithly — who is working in family practice with aspirations of working in a hospital emergency room — and her fellow classmates were able to bond and become a family.
“It was hard and some days you have no idea what’s going on and you’d feel that you’re in over your head, and you don’t think you’re going to make it through.
“But you just have just keep pushing and relying on the people that are around you that are going through the exact same things that you are.”
Arjun Dixit of Salisbury was in rarified air as he was the recipient of two graduate degrees as he earned a master’s in cybersecurity engineering technology and in food and agricultural science.
A self-proclaimed “numbers guy,” Dixit has always had a passion for statistics and being able to apply it.
The journey for Dixit was one of perseverance as he noted times of difficulty trying to balance schoolwork while working a full-time job.
“Honestly, there were times where I would feel frustrated … and I felt like ‘man this is it, I might quit one of the master’s (programs), but it was all momentary,” he said. “When I came to my senses and realized what was at stake, I found the motivation of my family, my wife, my mother, and my father, and everybody. It was the key and the driving force behind me being able to do all of this.”
Dixit said upon reflecting on the accomplishment, it still leaves him awestruck.
“I honestly never thought I would manage all of that, but I sit back and think how crazy all these semesters have been in the past three years,” he said. “It’s made me realize that my limits are way, way beyond what I used to consider, and at the end of the day, it’s all in my mind. You can push yourself to new limits.”
