UAS Ketchikan commencement ceremony honors student achievements

UAS Faculty Marshal and Assistant Professor Kasia Polanska led the processional and introduced director of ceremonies and Campus Director Priscilla Schulte.

“We welcome the proud parents, the grandparents, siblings, spouses, children and friends of our graduates,” Schulte told the audience. “The faculty and staff of UAS Ketchikan Campus are pleased that we have had the opportunity to work with each of you and wish you the best as you continue your life’s journey.”

Schulte recognized professors Bill Urquhart and Colleen Ianuzzi, who were promoted to full professor this school year. She also noted that Urquhart received the UAS Faculty Excellence award for advising. Associate professor Ali Ziegler, Schulte said, earned the UAS Faculty Excellence award in open educational practices, which honors educators who have worked to make education more equitable.

UAS Chancellor Karen Carey spoke next, and told the graduates that they should be “very, very proud of your accomplishments. Completing a degree is a major life achievement.”

University of Alaska President Pat Pitney was the next speaker and told the graduates, “Alaska is better off today because of your dedication, tenacity and commitment.”

She also urged them to take chances and to just “say yes” when opportunities were offered to them.

“It’ll make all the difference in your world,” she added.

President and CEO of Tongass Federal Credit Union and 2015 UAS graduate Helen Mickel gave the commencement address at the ceremony.

“I’m so excited about what you’ve accomplished,” Mickel told the graduates. “You’ve done something important, not just for yourself, but for your family and for your community.”

She said, “I’m certain all of you have overcome obstacles that could hold you back.”

She recounted the many serious obstacles that she had encountered along her own journey to earn her degree while raising a family and building her career in financial services.

Mickel told the audience she’d had to overcome treatments for two different bouts of cancer as she worked toward her degree.

Following surgeries, chemo and radiation treatments, she was pushed to “an extreme low point,” and she nearly gave up pursuing her bachelor’s degree, thinking she’d maybe settle with the associate’s degree she’d earned.

During the summer following the last of her treatments, Mickel said that she took a required music class through UAS that lit her enthusiasm again.

“It was the perfect antidote, and I pressed on knowing there was a possible future for me as the president and CEO of Tongass Federal Credit Union,” she said.

“I am so grateful for our community campus and for the journey I was able to take to complete my course of study,” she said. “I love our community and I enjoy collaborative efforts.”

Mickel added that the efforts of the staff and faculty at UAS Ketchikan “encourage economic growth and entrepreneurship. Our community campus provides high value educational support across many industries.”

She ended her presentation with a quote by Michael Altschuler: “The bad news is, time flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.”

She added, “I would like to say to the graduates, well done! You’ve landed this jet and for right now, take a breath and know that the time would have passed whether you were pursuing a degree or not.”

UAS graduate Rochelle King, who earned an associate of applied science degree in marine transportation, gave the student address at the ceremony following the presentation of diplomas to the graduates.

Polanska introduced King to the audience, noting King’s 16 years of service in the U.S. Army.

King expressed her thanks for the maritime and welding program offered by the university, saying they are the “reason for me being here and having learned and accomplished so much in the last few months.”

She recounted her ambivalence to academics in her high school years, saying that she had been working during her high school’s commencement ceremony and didn’t even really know whether she’d graduated until she joined the Army and was asked to present her diploma. She secured it, and moved on to her military career.

Earning a college degree was not something that she thought she ever would accomplish, she said.

She recounted living in locations all over the globe during her military career and collecting many amazing memories.

Once she was honorably discharged from the Army, she said she was searching for a new career path where she was living in Florida.

“Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of job openings for soldiers that operate missile systems in the civilian world,” she said with a grin.

As she sought new opportunities, she said that she called her best friend and asked whether he wanted to move to Alaska. During her time in the military, she’d loved living in new places offering exciting experiences, she explained, and she wanted to further explore.

He was willing to jump on the idea, she said, and they headed north.

“I encourage you to always remember,” she said, “that the best memories come from crazy ideas done with the people you care about.”

King then asked audience members to take out their phones and open their note-taking apps to type in the most compelling goals and dreams that came to them. She made suggestions for titles of their notes, such as “the life plan,” “awesome goals to achieve,” “the no-fear list” or “things to do before I kick the bucket.”

She advised, “just think of one new experience that you have not experienced that would make you happy. This experience can be big or small.”

She also urged people to never think of themselves as too old to start making such a list to inspire their lives.

King said that she came to Alaska with no real plan, but, “I just knew that I had a CDL and everyone needs truck drivers, so I could always do that.”

When she arrived in Ketchikan, she was hired as a garbage truck driver.

“Side note,” she quipped, eliciting laughter, “if you haven’t been to the Ketchikan landfill, you should go. It’s got a gorgeous view.”

One of the places that was on her trash route was the UAS Ketchikan Campus, and King said that is where she discovered the flyer advertising the maritime program. That program then was added to her own bucket list.

While enrolled in the maritime program, she said that the experience opened doors for her. She met a couple of “great welding instructors,” and discovered her passion for creating metal art. She now has metal art pieces displayed in the UAS art show, she said.

“Who would have thought that I would be a college graduate and an artist just by moving to Alaska?” she said.

She concluded by telling the graduates, “As you aspire for greatness, don’t forget to continue building your list and fill your life with unforgettable moments. Never let your spirit of exploration die.”

Following the traditional turning of the tassels and the recessional, King spoke with the Daily News about her experiences as a maritime student.

She said that she was interested initially in maritime education because “so much of it is hands-on and it’s just really immersive and that’s what I liked about it. It’s really great for increasing your ocean skills.”

King said that her plan next is to work as a game warden for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The skills and knowledge that she attained in the maritime program will transfer well to that job, she said, as there are many off-shore tasks asked of game wardens.

“It’ll be really good,” she said.

She spoke highly of the maritime program, and said that she was able to accelerate the program and finish the two-years worth of classes in nine months.

“It’s really accessible to people,” she said, as it offers flexible scheduling.

King said that she currently still is driving garbage trucks for the city, and continues to enjoy it.

She works the night shift, which is a great schedule that allows her to create metal art during the day. She is signed up to have a sales booth at the Blueberry Festival to sell her metal art, she said.

Another passion that King said she enjoys is training dogs, and she hopes to work with scenting dogs in her game warden job.

Graduate Russell Miller, who earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration and Management, also spoke to the Daily News following the commencement ceremony.

He said he decided to earn that degree when his oldest child was entering high school.

“I kind of wanted to finish what I started and give him something to shoot for,” Miller said, adding that additionally, “In my career, I thought it would open up some doors.”

Miller said that he is the senior operations manager for Trident Seafoods.

“I’ve spent a lot of my career on the water and now I work on the shore side and having the degree is going to open some more doors to continue on the career path.”

The most challenging part of earning his degree, Miller said, was “raising a family, working full time, trying to sneak in some studies. But, over the course of 20 years to put together the time to get the four-year degree, I’m just grateful that I’ve made the time and effort and I really appreciate the University of Alaska Southeast. It gave me the opportunity with online courses — that really helps students in my path because the traditional route I started, but I was distracted with fishing and raising a family and all sorts of things, and I just really appreciate the platform that it is.”

He said it also was enjoyable to take classes with people of all ages and all walks of life. It was satisfying as well to be able to share his own extensive career experience with younger students.

“I would advise others to just continue on, I mean you never stop learning no matter how old you get,” Miller said.

Milbia Fuller, who graduated magna cum laude and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Management, also spoke to the Daily News following the ceremony.

Fuller said that she started her college path more than seven years ago when she studied molecular biology at Clemson University in South Carolina. She had been working for Community Connections before starting that degree. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, she returned to Ketchikan to again work at Community Connections.

“I loved it there,” she said, “and wanted to continue in some kind of management position, and so then I decided on Applied Management.”

She lauded Community Connections for its support for her through scholarships and offering her a flexible schedule.

This fall, Fuller said that she plans to enter a program to earn her Master’s of Business Administration.

The biggest challenge that Fuller said she faced was similar to the one that Miller described.

“The most challenging thing was working and going to school at the same time,” Fuller said. “I was taking three to four classes a semester and then also working full time in a management position. It was just a lot of long hours.”

The most fun part about earning her degree was bolstering her knowledge, she explained.

“I love learning,” she said. “I really enjoyed being able to learn with the classes and actually apply them at work.”

Her advice for anyone pondering whether to earn or finish their degree at any age was: “Just do it. Just take the first step, right? The second thing that I would say is, it’s going to be worth it in the end but you have to make sure to have really good self care during the process.

“It’s easy to get really burnt out if you work and work and work and then you’re raising a family, if you have a family, and then you’re trying to actually do school and then you forget about yourself,” Fuller said. “So, you have to make sure that in order to go and continue to be successful you just take care of yourself.”