Celebrating milestones
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on May 8, 2016 1:45 AM
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News-Argus/ALAN CAMPBELL
University of Mount Olive graduate Chris Eaton, second from right, chats with fellow graduate James DiMartino, right, on Saturday during commencement exercises at Kornegay Arena.
The University of Mount Olive welcomed hundreds of students and family members to Kornegay Arena Saturday afternoon for the class of 2016 graduation ceremony.
After Vice President of Academic Affairs David Hines recognized the graduating students who were or had served in the military, guest speaker Henry Edmund took the podium to talk to the audience about principles to take with them into their post-graduate life. Edmund, a recently retired banking CEO who graduated from UMO as a non-traditional student at age 50, encouraged the students to cultivate a passionate, self-starting attitude, and to avoid getting stuck in a work situation that they could not find a love for. Above all else, he said, the students should remain true to themselves.
"It does not matter what career path you chose, but your name and integrity will be more valuable than anything else." he said. "Your integrity will be what people will remember you by."
Graduates were recognized in the Associate's of Arts, Bachelor's of Arts, Bachelor's of Applied Science, Bachelor's of Science and Master's of Business Administration programs.
Dwayne Patrick McKay, a business management major who first entered college at East Carolina University in 1977, said that UMO's one-night-per-week program helped him finally get his degree after years spent finding his way back to school.
"I took a different path than a lot of people, and it's been a long journey." he said. "But it's been good, really it's been great. I'm so happy to be here."
During the ceremony, biology major Holly Capps was awarded the Dr. Thomas R. Morris Award for Academic Excellence for graduating with a GPA of 3.995. The award came with a check for $3,000, which Ms. Capps said will be put towards tuition when she attends veterinary school at North Carolina State University in the fall. She said that winning the award had never been a specific goal of hers; simply doing good work had been the object all along.
"I came in, and I wanted to do the best I could, and it resulted in this." Ms. Capps said. "I never expected it, but it's very exciting."
For Ms. Capps and her fellow new graduates, "exciting" is definitely the word to use.