University of South Florida - Sarasota-Manatee
07/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/29/2024 08:06
Meet two outstanding graduates from USF Sarasota-Manatee
Meet two outstanding graduates from USF Sarasota-Manatee
- July 29, 2024
- Campus News, Students
The University of South Florida will award more than 2,600 degrees during summer commencement on Saturday, Aug. 3. The ceremonies include recipients of approximately 1,739 bachelor's, 700 master's, 162 doctoral and 11 specialist degrees.
USF President Rhea Law will preside over all ceremonies, which will be held in the Yuengling Center on the Tampa campus.
More ceremony information can be found here.
67-year-old USF Sarasota-Manatee graduate URGES CLASSMATES TO 'Never give up'
Born with a degenerative disease, Richard Draper can only see light perception and shadows. At 67, he is the oldest student to graduate from USF this summer. He is earning his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary social science after giving up on his dream of pursuing higher education in the '70s.
"There was limited technology to help people with vision loss," said Draper, who relied on CCTV magnifiers, a tedious technology that gave him headaches within half an hour of reading. "I also could not read material on the black board."
When, in 2019, Draper was gearing up for retirement after decades in the food service industry, he decided to give higher education another shot.
"Even though I enjoyed a successful career, I always regretted my decision to quit school," said Draper, whose vision had deteriorated to the point he could no longer do certain aspects of his job. "There was nothing left to hold me back."
After getting his "feet wet" at State College of Florida, Draper transferred to USF Sarasota-Manatee, which he could access by city bus. With his guide dog Shiloh in tow, Draper navigated the "small, intimate" campus while relying on audio books, spreadsheet programs to assist with math courses and remote classes when he could.
"Finishing my degree made me realize, that I could do this," said Draper, whose favorite class subjects included psychology and sociology. "I was no longer the quitter. I am the graduate."
After graduation, Draper plans to work with the visually impaired community in Sarasota.
Gamma Iota Sigma founder REFLECTS ON LASTING legacy of corporate partnership and student success
Madison Siefert has a lot to be proud of.
Upon enrolling in The Baldwin Group School of Risk Management and Insurance in fall 2020, Siefert quickly went on to found the Delta Beta Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, a professional fraternity that strengthens the insurance industry's student talent pipeline by connecting USF students with faculty and industry professionals through corporate partnerships and community events.
Siefert credits Kristi Hoskinson, assistant vice president for strategy and campus initiatives at USF Sarasota-Manatee and advisor to the fraternity, and Steven Miller, an associate professor in The Baldwin Group School of Risk Management and Insurance, for the organization's success.
"They both have strong leadership and mentor abilities, strive to continually learn new things and acquire new skills and are extremely passionate about the risk management and insurance industry." Siefert said. "They both have helped me get to where I am today. Words cannot express how much they have inspired me and how thankful I am to have had them as mentors."
As Siefert prepares to graduate, the former president and founder of the Delta Beta Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma is confident the professional fraternity will remain a source of "endless" opportunity for USF students under new president Evan Fueyo, who, according to Siefert, is already taking the fraternity to "new heights."
To scroll through the group's LinkedIn page is to take a tour of the fraternity's impressive community engagement efforts. Students attend professional conferences, partner with Feeding Tampa Bay, take a behind-the-scenes tours of local businesses and build houses with Habitat for Humanity Sarasota. On more than one occasion, fraternity members have come away from these events with a parttime or fulltime employment opportunities.
Even though Siefert won't officially graduate until August, she has already turned the internship she secured last summer with Shepherd Insurance into a fulltime position.
"It's been so exciting moving into my new role," said Siefert, who joined the team as a personal lines account coordinator in July.
To thank Siefert for all the work she did getting the fraternity up and running, Fueyo and other Gamma Iota Sigma members sent her a collection of videos and photos of the awards the chapter won at a recent conference.
"To see all of our hard work pay off and be recognized and awarded was one of the most special moments of my life," Siefert said. "It felt like the best way to close my chapter of being president of the student organization.