SRU graduates 1,600; students say time flew by
SLIPPERY ROCK — For Taylor Cunningham of Meridian, four years of school seem to have gone by without notice.
“I feel like it just started,” Cunningham said Saturday.
She was one of 1,600 Slippery Rock University students who graduated at the spring commencement ceremonies at the Morrow Field House.
“What a wonderful day to be at Slippery Rock University,” President Cheryl Norton told the new graduates and their families and friends.
The ceremony for students in the College of Health, Environment and Science, the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts, and graduate students, was at 10:30 a.m.
The ceremony for students in the College of Education and the College of Business, Information and Social Sciences was at 2 p.m.
Cunningham, an exercise science major, will spend her summer working full-time as a rehabilitation aide. She plans on going to graduate school for physical therapy in a year.
In her future, she said she may move to the Carolinas to work and start a family. In addition to the warm weather, she said those states have a strong medical industry.
Devon Pale, a history major from Prospect, also noted the quickness of the college years.
He plans to work for awhile and maybe attend graduate school, possibly to become a teacher.“I'm not 100 percent decided on it,” Pale said.Tiffany Allen of Jefferson Township received her doctorate in physical therapy, which was the culmination of seven years of schooling.Reflecting on that time, Allen said, “At the time, it (seemed long), when I was studying. Looking back, it was pretty fast.”She did her undergraduate work at the University of Pittsburgh before coming to SRU. She said she will miss her classmates and the campus.“They have a beautiful campus up here,” Allen said.Nick Benninger, a theater major from Franklin Township, said, although he will miss SRU, he is ready to start accomplishing things.“I'm excited to get out of here and go do something,” Benninger said.For the summer, he will act in an adaptation of Shakespeare's “The Tempest” in Pittsburgh while working a full-time job. In the future, he said he may consider graduate school.
Evan Andreyo, an exercise science major from Butler Township, technically finished his undergraduate work last year, but he was not eligible to walk in the ceremony until now.“I'm already in graduate school, but I'm walking now,” Andreyo said.For the past year, he has been participating in the doctorate of physical therapy program at SRU. This means, unlike most other people at the ceremony, he does not have this summer off.“We have school all summer, so I'll be here,” Andreyo said.He said he is not exactly sure what he will do after school. “I guess I'm going to see where it takes me,” Andreyo said.
