{"id":49919,"date":"2023-12-12T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T14:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=49919"},"modified":"2023-12-13T17:36:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T23:36:15","slug":"tarleton-commencement-speaker-to-reflect-on-shared-campus-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/tarleton-commencement-speaker-to-reflect-on-shared-campus-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarleton Commencement Speaker to Reflect on Shared Campus Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 When Sarah Ahmadi began her search for a college, she didn\u2019t even know Tarleton State University existed. Now after four years here, she\u2019s sad about leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image\"
Sarah Ahmadi will deliver the commencement address at Friday’s 10 a.m. graduation ceremonies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019ll reflect on her experiences in the commencement address at Saturday\u2019s 10 a.m. graduation ceremonies at Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI actually didn\u2019t know about Tarleton until I started to get recruited to run track,\u201d said Sarah, who competed in the heptathlon for 2\u00bd years. \u201cI came on a visit here and dearly loved it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet thinking about leaving. I\u2019ll definitely miss it. The people, the faculty, the students, the community. Everyone is so kind and makes Tarleton feel like home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah, who grew up in Allen, will graduate Saturday with a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology and a minor in kinesiology. She will still be part of the student body, as she plans to work on her master\u2019s degree in mental health counseling, beginning next fall on Tarleton\u2019s Waco campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her two years as a Tarleton Transition Mentor sparked her interest and eventually guided toward what she hopes is a career as a licensed counselor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did all the Duck Camp and orientation things,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was really a great opportunity to counsel and mentor younger students. I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tragic personal experience hardened her resolve to work in the mental health field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy goal of being a counselor was further emphasized when one of my friends committed suicide earlier this year. I want to help people. I don\u2019t want them to be in that spot where they feel like there\u2019s no hope. I want to make a positive impact on other people because Tarleton gave me that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s confident her studies have laid a solid groundwork for achieving her goal. \u201cWith my sociology courses and taking on leadership roles across campus, I feel equipped to move on to grad school. I learned about time management, problem solving and thinking creatively. Tarleton taught me how to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her speech will focus on how the first leg of her formal education is ending and how much easier it is appreciating the experience as she looks back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHills and valleys are part of everyone\u2019s life,\u201d she said. \u201cNow is a sweet time to reflect on that and to encourage people to be the light in the darkness for others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She solidifies that metaphor with an experience Tarleton graduates know from their first days on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI connect that to us all lighting our flames at convocation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That full circle is like winding up exactly where you should be, even though you weren\u2019t sure of where you were starting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds like a counselor talking, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 When Sarah Ahmadi began her search for a college, she didn\u2019t even know Tarleton State University existed. Now after four years here, she\u2019s sad about leaving. She\u2019ll …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":49921,"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":382,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,423,425,427],"tags":[431,432,437,439],"class_list":["post-49919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","category-science-health","tag-administration","tag-alumni","tag-college-of-education","tag-division-of-health-sciences"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"priddle","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/priddle-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2023\/12\/Unknown-1.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Science & Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Science & Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Administration<\/a>","Alumni<\/a>","College of Education<\/a>","Division of Health Sciences<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Administration<\/span>","Alumni<\/span>","College of Education<\/span>","Division of Health Sciences<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 12, 2023","modified":"Updated on December 13, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 12, 2023 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on December 13, 2023 5:36 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Woman in purple dress with graduation stole, smiling on steps.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49919","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\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}