STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 For Sharon Espinoza and her family, her forthcoming graduation represents not only a cause for celebration but a tremendous milestone. As a proud first-generation student, Espinoza\u2019s accomplishment carries deep significance for her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raised in Irving, Texas, Espinoza was artistically inclined, developing different worlds and characters with her vivid imagination. Her high school\u2019s extensive art program allowed her to nurture and grow her talents, instilling her passion for character design and portraiture and leading her to Tarleton State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have always loved art,\u201d Espinoza said, \u201cand art has always been a big part of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tragedy struck Espinoza during the second semester of her freshman year when her grandfather passed away. He had been one of Espinoza\u2019s most devoted supporters, and grieving his death while dealing with academic pressures nearly derailed her, but she found solace in her fond memories of his encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I was a kid and he saw me drawing at the table, he would tell me \u2018Con ganas,\u2019\u201d Espinoza recalls, \u201cwhich essentially means \u2018with strength.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Espinoza graduates this Saturday with a bachelor\u2019s degree in digital media studies with a concentration in game design and minor in computer science. For Espinoza, completing her education fulfills her promise to honor her late grandfather. In addition to her studies, Espinoza has remained committed to her artwork. She has been a winner at the President\u2019s Circle Art Show for two years in a row and previously interned with an anime studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her grandfather\u2019s fiery passion has been a guiding philosophy for Espinoza\u2019s journey and serves as the inspiration for her commencement speech. Espinoza hopes her grandfather\u2019s words will resonate with the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo everything to the best of your ability,\u201d Espinoza recalled. \u201cYou may not be perfect, but when you do your best, that effort is shown.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 For Sharon Espinoza and her family, her forthcoming graduation represents not only a cause for celebration but a tremendous milestone. As a proud first-generation student, Espinoza\u2019s accomplishment …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1084,"featured_media":55134,"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":421,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,425,421,426],"tags":[430,440,453,456],"class_list":["post-55109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-campus-community","category-featuredstories","category-honors-achievements","tag-academic-affairs","tag-college-of-liberal-fine-arts","tag-performing-fine-arts","tag-stephenville"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"jdouglas","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/jdouglas\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/04\/Sharon-Espinoza-lead-image-1-300x200.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Featured Stories<\/a>","Honors & Achievements<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Featured Stories<\/span>","Honors & Achievements<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Academic Affairs<\/a>","College of Liberal & Fine Arts<\/a>","Performing & Fine Arts<\/a>","Stephenville<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academic Affairs<\/span>","College of Liberal & Fine Arts<\/span>","Performing & Fine Arts<\/span>","Stephenville<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 hours ago","modified":"Updated 8 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 7, 2026","modified":"Updated on May 7, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 7, 2026 10:00 am","modified":"Updated on May 7, 2026 9:54 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55109","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\/1084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55109"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55215,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55109\/revisions\/55215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}