CLASS OF 2020 – 2021 CommencemenT May 8, 2021 Valencia College fifty-second annual Commencement May 8, 2021 VALENCIA COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES Tracey Stockwell Chair Daisy Lopez-Cid Vice Chair Bruce Carlson John Davis Angel de la Portilla Maria Grulich Guillermo Hansen Michael Sasso Beth Smith VALENCIA COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT PROGRAM Presiding Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, President Opening Remarks .................................................Dr. Kathleen Plinske Executive Vice President and Provost Congratulatory Remarks ..........................................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart President Conferring of Degrees ............................................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, Ms. Tracey Stockwell Chair, Valencia College District Board of Trustees Closing Remarks .................................................... Mr. Stanton Reed Former President, Collegewide Faculty Association Alumni Message. Ms. Linh Dang ’90 Valencia College Foundation Board Member Distinguished Graduate Address .....................................Ms. Samantha Tanner 2020-2021 Mary S. Collier Distinguished Graduate Share your own photos: facebook.com/valenciacollege @valenciacollege @valenciacollege 1 A MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS May 8, 2021 Dear Valencia College Graduate: On behalf of all Valencia College alumni, we would like to extend our enthusiastic congratulations to you on your graduation. This impressive achievement was, no doubt, a journey of hard work and sacrifice. We are incredibly proud of you and applaud your accomplishment! You should be excited to have earned a degree from Valencia College, a college consistently ranked as one of THE BEST colleges in the United States! While this may conclude your coursework here, remember that life at Valencia College does not end when you graduate; it continues, grows and thrives. You have joined a network of more than 200,000 alumni who are thought leaders, innovators and creators striving to better our community. Wherever you go, wherever you end up, Valencia College is where it began. The Office of Alumni Relations enriches the college’s impact by serving as a gateway for alumni of all identities, backgrounds and experiences across the globe and in our neighborhood to stay connected to their alma mater. Whether it is through the Valencia College Alumni Network, our online community for networking and mentoring, or our webinars and events, we are here to support you. We hope that you will utilize these resources for life! We are so very excited to be able to count you among our alumni family. Congratulations to you and all the members of the Class of 2020 – 2021 who are celebrating their graduation today! Please stay in touch and let us know about your accomplishments as you make your mark in the world. Welcome to life as Valencia College alumni; we wish you the very best in the next chapter of your life! Forever a Valencian! Erin M. Ohlsen Director, Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving Valencia College Foundation 2 VALENCIA COLLEGE ALUMNI RELATIONS MARY S. COLLIER DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD* Samantha Tanner 2020 – 2021 DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE For Samantha Tanner, who completed her coursework at Valencia College in December 2020 and has already begun her studies in psychology at UCF, it’s been a long journey to earning her associate’s degree. She started at Valencia College in 2011, right after graduating from Osceola High School, but dropped out before completing her first semester. “I was working full time and juggling a lot of personal issues,” she says. At the time, Samantha knew she needed to take a break from college and grow up. But she was determined to return to college when she was ready. In the meantime, she got married, began working full-time in the insurance industry, and in 2015, had her first child, Luke. So when her husband, James, completed his tour of duty with the Marine Corps in 2016, Samantha knew it was time for her to pick up where she’d left off—at Valencia College. She took most of her classes online, juggling motherhood and her job and her studies. But she pushed herself to do her best. “When I went back to college, I worked hard,” she recalls. “I knew I had to give it a shot.” One semester turned out to be particularly challenging. In the summer of 2018, Samantha was pregnant with her second baby, Levi, and had three online math tests due two days after she gave birth. “I got up that day and did my three tests while I was breastfeeding,” she says. “I hadn’t been procrastinating. That kind of defined who I was and how I took my classes. It was my new normal.” Like many parents who return to college, Samantha has juggled the needs of her family with her studies. For instance, when her husband, James, decided to rejoin the military in 2019, the family moved from the Kissimmee area to Fort Hood, Texas. Samantha continued taking her classes online, managing the kids and a new job and a move across the country. “I have to dedicate eight hours a day to my job and I have my kids and I need to dedicate as much time as I can when they’re awake. When they go to sleep, that’s when I get all of my school work done,” she says. But she notes that her husband is supportive—and amazed at how driven she is. The greatest blessing, she says, has been realizing that it’s okay to follow one’s own path—and timeline. “I have a vast support system. People advised me to take my time. Just because I’m 28 years old doesn’t mean that I have to have my master’s degree already. That’s ok, I can work toward it slowly,” she says. “You cannot live someone else’s life.” And, as someone who has struggled with depression—and watched many family and friends struggle with mental health—Tanner’s goal is to become a clinical psychologist and focus on men’s mental health. “There’s a lot of men and women in my life who have suffered from mental health issues,” she says. “I’ve suffered from depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. When you’re in that kind of a hole, you feel like you’re all alone. There’s such a stigma on men’s mental health; society makes you look weak for wanting help. I would really like to make a difference in the men’s mental health field.” * In January 2012, the Alumni Association named this award in honor of Mary Smedley Collier, the college’s first Distinguished Graduate, former Alumni Association president, and a longtime Valencia College advocate and benefactor. 3 VALENCIA COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES Members of the Board of Trustees are appointed by the governor of Florida to direct the college’s policies. These community leaders extend their time, experience and dedication to make Valencia College the successful learning institution it has become today. We recognize their good work in making this day possible for so many of our students. Tracey Stockwell Daisy Lopez-Cid Bruce Carlson Chair Vice Chair John Davis Angel de la Portilla Maria Grulich Guillermo Hansen Michael Sasso Beth Smith 4 VALENCIA COLLEGE Valencia College is an innovative leader in higher education with The faculty and staff who bring these educational experiences a national reputation for teaching excellence. The college places to Central Floridians are scholars as well as practical experts the highest value on the success of each individual student. In in their fields. They are caring people who put their energies an ongoing effort to be responsive to the community, we build into instruction and their emphasis on the success of relationships with high schools, universities and corporate partners individual students. to strengthen academic scholarship and economic development. Ninety-three to ninety-seven percent of Valencia College Valencia College is truly a part of the community, meeting diverse Associate in Science degree graduates are placed in jobs in educational needs at eight locations, and dozens of business and their chosen field. Valencia College graduates are UCF’s community sites in Orange and Osceola counties. Our Poinciana number one source of transfer students, and make up Campus opened in 2017 and our newest campus, Downtown one-quarter of their graduates. opened in August 2019. In 2011, Valencia College was named the inaugural winner of From its beginning in 1967, the college has met the ongoing the Aspen Prize as the top community college in the nation for challenge of keeping pace with the dynamic growth of the 2011-2012. The Aspen Institute, a Washington educational and community and has continued, in an ever-changing environment, policy studies center, selected the college for this prestigious award to fulfill its mission. As an educational leader, the college provides based on an overall graduation rate nearly three times that of other an “open-door” comprehensive postsecondary education. colleges, as well as the high job placement rates of its workforce training programs. According to U.S. Department of Education The college fulfills its mission by offering degrees that provide data, Valencia College ranks fourth among the nation’s 1,200 for transfer to a university or for immediate entry into a career. two-year colleges in the number of associate degrees awarded, we also offer continuing professional education to thousands of fifth in the number awarded to Hispanics and seventh in the residents who recognize the value of lifelong learning. number awarded to African Americans. A 2012 study found that Valencia College boosts the economy of Orange and Osceola counties by $1.05 billion a year. DEGREES AT VALENCIA COLLEGE Students at Valencia College can earn an Associate in Arts (A.A.) The college, assisted by its program advisory committees, degree which enables them to transfer to bachelor’s degree- continually monitors the area’s workforce needs, developing granting colleges and universities in almost any major field of and modifying programs to keep in step with local demand.