Gannon Knight News

     The class of 2010 is now a little less than two weeks away from graduating from Gannon University. The commencement ceremony will take place once again at the 2 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at Tullio Arena.
     Gannon President Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D., will confer some 745 degrees during the ceremony, and this year’s commencement speaker will be Seton Hall University President Monsignor Robert Sheeran. He will be delivering the keynote address to the graduating class and he will also be awarded an honorary degree in the process.
     Sheeran has been serving Seton Hall University as president for 15 years. He was first awarded the job in 1995 and will pass the torch onto someone else as he plans to resign in June.
     A university press release states that under Sheeran’s leadership, Seton Hall has achieved higher rankings, stronger peer recognition and greater national prestige thanks to higher quality admissions. Today, the university’s eight schools and colleges enroll 9,500 students who hail from all 50 states and nearly 70 countries around the world.
     Graduates for this year’s ceremony will receive everything from associate degrees to doctorate degrees.
     Graduates include 37 students earning the doctorate of physical therapy degree, 281 earning master’s degrees, three earning post master’s certificates, 401 earning bachelor’s degrees and 23 earning associate degrees.
     Clay Acker, a senior communication arts major, is one of the 401 students receiving a bachelor’s degree.
     “It’s really bittersweet,” Acker said, referring to his graduation. “I am excited to start the next phase of my life but it doesn’t feel like that time should be right now, or right after graduation.
     “But the sun goes up and down every day, and every morning brings me a day closer to the culmination of my collegiate career and onto the next step,” Acker said. “With amazing grace, I will face my upcoming challenges and create my own success.”
     Acker, like the hundreds of other students who will be receiving their diplomas less than two weeks from now, said he likes to look back on his career at Gannon University as both a positive experience and one that has helped him become the person he is today.
     “First things first, I learned that I shouldn’t doubt my own abilities as a student to produce good works, and when coupled with good time management anything is possible,” he said. “I would also have to say my team building and leadership skills have improved the most. From being the president of my fraternity to playing on the club volleyball team and everything in between, those two qualities made my career a success.”
     Jessica Hoch, a senior radiological sciences major, also said she is glad that all her work will finally pay off with a diploma. Hoch started out at Gannon in the fall of 2008 and had to accelerate her program by taking summer courses.
     “I am extremely excited to graduate,” she said. “When you work as hard as possible for so long, that walk across the stage becomes a monumental event in your life.
     “Even though it is all symbolic, the minute I put on that cap and gown I’ll know all the late nights and study sessions were worth it. It has been one hell of a journey getting here, but I wouldn’t change any part of it.”