{"id":46271,"date":"2022-05-10T10:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=46271"},"modified":"2022-05-11T10:46:01","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:46:01","slug":"schedule-stacked-for-tarleton-commencement-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/schedule-stacked-for-tarleton-commencement-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Schedule Stacked for Tarleton Commencement Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"7109\"
Austin Davidson<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, May 10, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Austin Davidson is a busy guy these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s about to get busier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For starters, he\u2019s preparing his remarks as the keynote speaker for Tarleton State University\u2019s 4 p.m. graduation ceremony Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, he starts work at a new job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this as he and his wife Madison acclimate to having a baby in the house, son Owen Theodore Davidson, born April 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin is a graduate of Waxahachie High School and a U.S. Navy veteran, having served four years as a way to fund his degree in mechanical engineering. He enlisted while attending Navarro Junior College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to take out a lot of loans and get into debt to go to college,\u201d he said, \u201cso I talked to a recruiter and enlisted. It helped me out more with school than I could have imagined. I was a machinist\u2019s mate in the Navy, so I actually worked with a lot of equipment that benefited my degree plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was stationed in Japan and Bahrain and had the opportunity to visit Australia, Guam, South Korea, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai. He and Madison even took a trip to Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his tour was up he called on his brother, who studied mechanical engineering technology at Tarleton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was going to McLennan County College and looking at transferring. My wife is a nurse and was working at the hospital in Waco, and I didn\u2019t want to move her too far away. I asked my brother about Tarleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buoyed by a glowing review on the university, Austin and Madison relocated to Valley Mills, between Waco and Stephenville, and he enrolled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was one of the best decisions I made,\u201d he said. \u201cThe classes are maybe 20 people. I enjoyed personal relationships with the professors. They are very willing to help. You could go to their offices and they\u2019re happy to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While working toward his bachelor\u2019s, Austin started two student organizations \u2014 the Tarleton student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Tarleton Aeronautical and Rocketry Team, both to help gain project experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all paid off, as he begins a new career in June with L3 Harris Technologies in Waco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His commencement speech draws on a lesson he learned from his grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy grandpa passed away in November, and he always told me to find my passion: \u2018Be proud of your work, do what you love, and do it well.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin hasn\u2019t ruled out an advanced degree, but for now he has other plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t mind getting my master\u2019s, but we have a brand new baby and I have accepted a full-time position. I\u2019m going to work and get this child down the road a couple of years, first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt it\u2019ll be a busy couple of years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austin Davidson is a busy guy these days. He\u2019s about to get busier. For starters, he\u2019s preparing his remarks as the keynote speaker for Tarleton State University\u2019s 4 p.m. graduation ceremony Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,423,425],"tags":[430,431,441,446],"class_list":["post-46271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","tag-academic-affairs","tag-administration","tag-college-of-science-mathematics","tag-division-of-student-engagement-success"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2022\/05\/7110-300x300.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Academic Affairs<\/a>","Administration<\/a>","College of Science & Mathematics<\/a>","Division of Student Engagement & Success<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academic Affairs<\/span>","Administration<\/span>","College of Science & Mathematics<\/span>","Division of Student Engagement & Success<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 10, 2022","modified":"Updated on May 11, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 10, 2022 10:45 am","modified":"Updated on May 11, 2022 10:46 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Person in glasses smiling outdoors.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}