12/6/2018

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Congratulations graduates!

Indiana Statesman

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018

Indiana Statesman

@ISUstatesman

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indianastatesman.com

WINTER COMMENCEMENT 2018

Leonard selected as student speaker for commencement Chelsea Chapman Reporter

After being approached by her advisor in the honors college abut an exciting opportunity, Star Leonard decided to apply to be this semester’s commencement speaker. She had only a day to prepare a speech to give to a panel that would decide which Indiana State University student would welcome those attending graduation at this semester’s ceremony. Leonard is a senior at ISU studying biology pre-medicine. She is very excited to speak to ISU at graduation. “It’s a really big honor,” said Leonard. “Not everybody gets to do it. I’m really excited to give my speech and talk to ISU and what all I’ve gotten to do through it for the last three and a half years. I want to recognize all ISU has been able to do for us. I think sometimes we take it for granted and we don’t fully recognize all of the opportunities we have had here.” Dr. Bierly, Star’s honors college advisor, emailed Leonard to ask if she would be interested in being the commencement speaker for graduation. “I said ‘Well, of course!’” said Leonard. “It turned out that by the time he had emailed me, it was about six days past the due date for the application. He got ahold of someone and I was able to go ahead and apply. I had a day to write the speech, I presented in front of the panel the next day, and they selected me.” From day one, Leonard was confident in her choice of ISU

Leonard

for her undergraduate studies. “I chose ISU because it’s not too big and not too small,” said Leonard. “It was very homey. When I came here for a tour, I didn’t feel like a number. It felt like someplace where I can actually start a foundation, someplace that I can actually get a good education, make good connections, be good at networking, make some new friends, and get to know the staff and faculty. I looked at that and it was something I really wanted to be a part of.” Leonard’s favorite experience she’s had at ISU, is with the people of ISU. “The people, they truly represent ISU for what it really is,” said Leonard. “It’s very diverse, it’s very humbling. There are a lot of different people I’ve gotten to know and see their experiences to understand where they came from. I’ve had some great friendships, great amazing peo-

ple who would go above and beyond to do anything for you.” Leonard said the biggest challenge she’s faced at ISU was herself. “I constantly told myself I couldn’t,” said Leonard, “especially when I decided I wanted to be a doctor, it’s this big prestigious career. When I decided I wanted to do that, I kept telling myself ‘I can’t do that, I can’t do that,’ but as I was going through my classes, I started being at the top of my classes. I started succeeding against my peers and teaching my peers.” On top of being a full time student, Leonard has been involved in nine organizations during her time at ISU. “I pile my plate as high as I can,” said Leonard. “In my time here I have wanted to experience everything I possibly could. Of the nine organizations I joined, I held executive positions in six of them. I did not have time in the day to sit down and breathe for five minutes.” Leonard plans to stay in the Terre Haute community after she graduates. “I’m hoping to be doing some volunteer opportunities,” said Leonard, “maybe with the YMCA or 14th and Chestnut. I’m also taking a year off and then after the year; I’m going to apply to medical school. My dream school is UT Dallas, but as I started looking at the schools, I really like Marion and Indiana University.” Commencement is set for noon Dec. 15 at Hulman Center. Retiring state Rep. Clyde Kersey, ‘71, GR ‘74, will serve as the alumni speaker.

Graduation tips from the Career Center Lauren Rader Reporter

Graduation is just around the corner for those graduating early. The commencement will take place Dec. 15 from 12 - 2 p.m. Anyone who has 75 or more credit hours is allowed to apply for graduation, and all graduation information can be found on the Indiana State University website. The Career Center is providing services to seniors that will help them get ready for graduation and will help them get organized with their future plans. Below are some tips that are provided from members of the Career Center for graduating students. The Career Center is provided free of charge to alumni. Dr. Darby Scism, Assistant Director of Career Services, wants students to know that the center is always available when they need it. “They can participate in any of the events, career fairs, career coaching, etc. that current students have access to,” said Scism. There are many opportunities for graduated students to utilize through the career center. Just because a student has graduated doesn’t mean that they cannot utilize their resources on campus. “We offer assistance and resources for career exploration and making decisions about majors and careers, resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills, and all kinds of workshops on career topics,” Scism

said. “We have a whole team of employer relations coordinators who form relationships with employers and companies and convince them to recruit our students through our career fairs, information sessions, on campus interviews and job postings in Handshake.” How to find jobs where you want: Tradara McLaurine, Executive Director of the Career Center, listed a few that ISU has to offer new graduates. “Students graduating in December can find jobs through a variety of different mechanisms that we have in the career center,” Executive Director of the Career Center Tradara McLaurine said. “One, all students have access to a free resource that is called careershift.com. That can be located on our website for students and alumni, and it has jobs that are posted all over the nation as well as just Indiana, and even Terre Haute.” There is also the First Destination Survey that helps the career center get an idea of post-graduation plans. It provides a platform to students who need jobs and guidance. Ascend Indiana, a nonprofit partnered with ISU, is also a resource to help students find jobs. The career center has many more options for graduates when it comes to their future plans. Graduates should be flexible and confident with their plan. “Graduates should be flexible with their job options in terms of the type of position they take

CAREER CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Olivier Douliery | Abaca Press | TNS

Tribune News Service

President Trump attends the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush. The hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President Bush drives by the In a break with modern tradition, Trump was not offered a chance to speak. White House heading to a state funeral at the National Cathedral on Wednesday.

George H.W. Bush remembered in state funeral Noah Bierman and Sarah D. Wire Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — In a state funeral that leavened pomp with humor, President George Herbert Walker Bush was celebrated Wednesday as a man who melded character with self-deprecation — a statesman who managed the peaceful end of the Cold War and patriarch of one of America’s most successful political dynasties. “To us, his was the brightest of a thousand points of light,” said his son, President George W. Bush, in a funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington — a reference to his father’s oft-quoted call for volunteerism. America’s five living presidents were among the hundreds

of dignitaries and elected leaders, spanning decades of public service, crowded into the pews to remember Bush, a one-term president whose collegial style and grace helped him become increasingly popular as the nation’s political chasm widened. “He accepted that failure is a part of living a full life, but taught us never to be defined by failure,” George W. Bush said, choking back tears at one point when recalling his father’s devotion to his family. Eulogies focused on Bush’s compassion and foreign policy prowess, which deftly navigated the U.S. and its European allies through the collapse of the Soviet Union and led an international coalition to reverse Iraq’s 1991 invasion of Kuwait. “He stood in the breach of the Cold War against totalitarian-

ism. He stood in the breach in Washington against unthinking partisanship,” said Jon Meacham, his biographer, who delivered the first eulogy. “On his watch, a wall fell in Berlin, a dictator’s aggression did not stand.” Meacham called Bush, a naval aviator shot down during World War II, “America’s last, great soldier-statesman, a 20th-century founding father,” in the tradition of U.S. presidents who believed in causes larger than themselves. “An imperfect man, he left us a more perfect union,” Meacham said. The world’s most exclusive club — Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter — all listened with their wives, sitting together in the front row. It marked the

first time all had been together since Trump was inaugurated in January 2017, after a bitter campaign in which Trump had criticized nearly every one of them. The large Bush family _ including Jeb Bush, who served two terms as Florida governor and ran unsuccessfully for president _ laughed at the memories of first lady Barbara Bush’s straight talk, cried in recounting the death of sister Robin at 3 years old and nodded in recognition at the jokes about Bush’s love of off-color jokes and digs at his own expense. Trump was invited to attend, but in a break with modern tradition, was not offered a chance to speak. He was the first sitting president not to make the speakers’ program at the funeral of a predecessor since President Richard Nixon failed to eulogize

Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. Trump looked uncomfortable at times, sitting in the front row and rubbing his hands between his knees as speakers one-byone praised Bush’s modesty, bipartisan spirit and fealty to multinationalism. He shook hands with the Obamas when he arrived, but avoided greeting either President Clinton or Hillary Clinton, who stared straight ahead. When President George W. Bush arrived a few minutes later, he shook each of the presidents’ and first ladies’ hands, and appeared to sneak a piece of candy to Michelle Obama. The elder Bush “was a man of such great humility,” said former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, 87. “Those who traveled the

BUSH CONTINUED ON PAGE 3


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