MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia University Honors College is all about resiliency – academic and personal. And that was evident at the opening of Thursday’s Medallion Ceremony at the Creative Arts Center.
Acting Dean Ryan Claycomb invited everyone — students and families — to stand for national anthem, which never began. After a bit of silence, Claycomb winged it and invited everyone to sing the anthem instead.
All joined in and sang together: a fitting tribute to the spirit of the college.
WVU President Gordon Gee came to the mic and praised the crowd: “You must all have had musical training. It was wonderful.”
The Honors College aims to enhance the undergraduate experience for high-achieving students “by building a community of scholars who enrich their education in the classroom and beyond.” The college’s core values are leadership, exploration, building, working together and serving the Mountain State.
The medallions, Gee said, are a tangible symbol of the graduates living out those values. “You dug deeper. You explored further,” he said. “You are academic superheroes.”
They stepped outside their comfort zones, he said, to gain skills needed to forge opportunities.
Gee offered one bit of advice. “Finding your passion is finding your purpose.” And finding purpose is a key to happiness.
Adhere to your core values, he said. “Combine your passion with compassion and you will continue to excel.”
Sarah Soliman, a 2007 Statler College engineering and biometrics graduate offered the keynote address. After graduation, she worked as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now is a technical analyst for RAND Corp. in Washington, D.C.
She offered her own story as an example for the students as they consider their futures. “I was more than just my GPA. I had something to offer the world.”
After graduation, she was offered a graduate school spot at Cambridge University, but turned it down fearing she couldn’t afford it. But after he beloved grandfather died, she thought he might have wanted her to seize the chance, so she loaded up on loans and took the spot.
Then came her job in Iraq — where she had to have her blood type on all her gear in case medics had to give her a transfusion — which some thought she was overqualified for and urged her to look for something else. It’s easy to listen to other people’s expectations for you, she said. “Be in a position to take individual ownership” and plot the course you want.
But her heart never left West Virginia, she said. In 2011, she was able to surprise an influential engineering professor by establishing an endowed scholarship in his name. The scholarship enables engineering students to study abroad.
“That was the coolest day I had as a Mountaineer,” she said. “I want you to take with you today the sense that the best is yet to come. … My hope for you is you will make decisions that defy logic but make your heart soar.”
After Soliman’s address, the 285 honors graduates processed across the state to receive their medallions and pose for the commemorative portraits.
Claycomb wrapped up the ceremony: “Go out and do great things.”
Everyone then stood and swayed together to “Country Roads” before heading back out to the world, and a sudden spring downpour.
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
