As the University of Maryland Eastern Shore conferred the degrees of 203 new graduates at the 27th winter commencement on Friday, it was a time for many newly minted alumni to not only reflect on what they were leaving behind, but also their futures.
For the new graduates, their paths to commencement day varied.
Ayanna Zenzele-Rushing, of Baltimore, enrolled at UMES in the fall of 2022 following a gap year and receiving her associate degree. The digital media studies major completed her bachelor’s in five semesters.
“It feels bittersweet leaving so soon,” Zenzele-Rushing said. “But I know that I’ve done the work, and I’ve learned a lot here at UMES, even though it was a shorter time than usual.”
For Ludan Osman, of Princess Anne, the road to her bachelor’s degree in biology began when her family emigrated from Sudan in 2019.
As the child of science teachers, Osman knew science was in her future, but had to overcome classroom struggles through the help of her professors. That led to her research on the effects of temperature on Aronia berries being published.
“My experience at UMES proves that everything is possible as long as I put my mind to it,” she said. “To go from struggling in a general lab to publishing research papers means that in my next journey if I struggle in the beginning, I can tell myself the same thing happened to me and that I have to put in the extra work to overcome it.”
Also among the Winter 2024 graduates were a group of students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. As the world closed during the pandemic, important life moments were either delayed, postponed, or moved to a virtual setting.
“It was a different time and atmosphere when I started in 2018,” said mechanical engineering major Jalen Hunter of Oxon Hill, Maryland. “COVID changed a lot of things, especially when we went to online classes. It was a learning experience for everyone, students, and teachers alike.”
Giving the student commentary, Tayveon Lee, a computer engineering major from Baltimore, discussed the “unexpected challenges” COVID brought for members of his graduating high school class.
“We missed prom, graduation, and the traditional high school experiences,” Lee said. “But UMES became the door that opened for us, the place where our journey truly began.”
For Imani Payne, of Cambridge by way of Baltimore, the opportunity to walk across the stage at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center was one that was four years in the making.
Payne – earning her master’s degree in Cybersecurity Engineering Technology – was unable to celebrate her first degree, a bachelor’s in Human Ecology with a concentration in fashion merchandising, due to the postponement of the Winter 2020 graduation. Beset with the additional tragedy of losing her father in spring of 2023, Payne’s chance to partake in the traditional turning of the tassels had to wait another year.
But having moved forward, Payne said this moment more than makes up for what she was unable to do four years prior.
“I’m making a very big deal out of this,” she said. “I’m going to do everything that I wanted to do this fall 2024.”
The emotions Lee, Payne, and many others encountered when missing their biggest moments was not lost on UMES President Heidi M. Anderson, who addressed the omitted milestones.
“Four years ago, many of you were not able to attend a commencement for your high school diploma, or undergraduate degree,” she said. “But today, you finally get the recognition you so richly deserve: to stand; to walk this stage; to hear your name called; and to receive your well-earned degree.”
Added Anderson: “We are not just celebrating the culmination of years of hard work and dedication, but also the beginning of a new chapter in your lives. It’s the start of an exciting journey filled with endless possibilities and opportunities.”
