STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Rachel Speegle carries her Tarleton State University flame everywhere she goes. This Friday, Speegle will graduate with her second degree from Tarleton State, a master\u2019s in agricultural leadership, education and communications with a concentration in leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On her grandparents\u2019 ranch, Speegle saw firsthand the value of hard work and dedication in raising animals. She visited the ranch monthly, feeding and tending to their beef cattle. In high school, Speegle\u2019s agriculture teachers and Future Farmers of America advisors, Tarleton State alumni, further encouraged her passion for the industry and her career goals. As an FFA member, she made regular trips to Tarleton State for competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just fell in love with agriculture instantly,\u201d Speegle recounts of her early years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those formative experiences started her on the path to an education at Tarleton State, where she received her bachelor\u2019s degree last May. Speegle has served as a member of the Baptist Student Ministry and Collegiate FFA as well as College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Ambassador. Her passion for education has remained as she has served as a Tarleton Transition Mentor for the university and worked as a student teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speegle credits Associate Dean Dr. Rudy Tarpley, Instructor of Contest\/Coordinator Michelle Damerau, her family and her tight-knit support system of friends for motivating her along her educational journey. Following graduation, she plans to continue as a high school agriculture teacher and FFA advisor like the pivotal educators who inspired her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her commencement address, Speegle will honor Tarleton State traditions and encourage others to persevere, referencing the candle-lighting ceremony incoming students participate in as well as founder John Tarleton\u2019s long walk from Tennessee to Texas. For Speegle, these symbols serve as a metaphor for the academic and professional journeys Tarleton State students embark on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to focus on the lighting of the candles we do at convocation and remind the audience to continue to let their candle burn bright,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Rachel Speegle carries her Tarleton State University flame everywhere she goes. This Friday, Speegle will graduate with her second degree from Tarleton State, a master\u2019s in agricultural …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1084,"featured_media":55133,"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":[430,436,456],"class_list":["post-55112","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-agriculture-natural-resources","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\/Rachel-Speegle-lead-image-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 Agriculture & Natural Resources<\/a>","Stephenville<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academic Affairs<\/span>","College of Agriculture & Natural Resources<\/span>","Stephenville<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 day ago","modified":"Updated 3 days ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 6, 2026","modified":"Updated on May 4, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 6, 2026 10:00 am","modified":"Updated on May 4, 2026 10:54 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55112","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=55112"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55197,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55112\/revisions\/55197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}