The University of South Florida Office of Veteran Success recently held a ceremony to commemorate the hard work of more than 200 student veterans who are graduating this weekend.
The veterans, along with their family and friends, were treated to food, games, and live music before the graduates received their military graduation cords.
The OVS has played a key role for over 700 students seeking higher education during or after their time in the armed forces.
Going back to school can be a hard decision to make for veterans who have spent a long time in the military.
Wayne Taylor, a veteran as well as OVS director, encourages any unsure applicants to reach out to him.
"Come by and have a conversation," he said. "Whether you come to USF (or) you're trying to figure out if you want to go to community college first and try it out, it doesn't matter — come in and talk to us.
"We're going to go and explore what your passion is. Make sure that you're going down the path that you want, and not feeling that you're just running around with no purpose."
The OVS has multiple programs designed to assist veterans who might have trouble navigating their way through the university. That includes everything from help applying for VA benefits to finding scholarships or tutors.
Jason Thomas is one of the student veterans who received help from the OVS. He had been in the U.S. Army for 13 years before he decided it was time to go back to school.
"At first it was uncomfortable, but then I just put the energy that I would normally have into socializing with people into schoolwork. So I got really good at homework," Thomas said.
"I got really, really good at class work, essays, and then the professors and the teachers recognize that because, I might be the only old guy in that class, but I'm certainly not the only old guy or woman that they've seen. So they were patient, and they helped me out quite a bit."
According to a USF press release, the university will award more than 7,100 degrees during ceremonies on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The ceremonies include recipients of 5,430 bachelor’s, 1,492 master’s, 221 doctoral degrees and eight specialist degrees.
CEREMONY INFORMATION – all ceremonies will be held at the Yuengling Center on the USF Tampa campus
Friday, May 5
- 9 a.m.: Bachelor’s degree recipients from the Muma College of Business and the Office of Undergraduate Studies (approximately 750 graduates expected to attend).
- 1:30 p.m.: Bachelor’s degree recipients from the colleges of Nursing and Public Health (approximately 750 graduates expected to attend).
- 6:30 p.m.: Bachelor’s degree recipients from the colleges of Education, Engineering, and The Arts (approximately 750 graduates expected to attend).
Saturday, May 6
- 9 a.m.: Bachelor’s degree recipients from the following departments of the College of Arts and Sciences: Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications, Anthropology, Communication, Economics, English, History, Humanities and Cultural Studies, School of Information, School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Journalism and Digital Communication, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Women’s and Gender Studies, and World Languages (approximately 800 graduates expected to attend).
- 1:30 p.m.: Bachelor’s degree recipients from the following departments of the College of Arts and Sciences: School of Geosciences, Integrative Biology, Mathematics and Statistics, Molecular Biosciences, Physics, and Psychology (approximately 750 graduates expected to attend).
- 6:30 p.m.: Bachelor’s degree recipients from the colleges of Behavioral and Community Sciences and Bachelor’s degree recipients from the following department of the College of Arts and Sciences: Chemistry (approximately 750 graduates expected to attend).
Sunday, May 7
- 9 a.m.: Master’s and educational specialist degree recipients from the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Muma College of Business, Education, Patel College of Global Sustainability, Graduate Studies, Marine Science, and The Arts (approximately 600 graduates expected to attend).
- 1:30 p.m.: Master’s degree recipients from the colleges of Behavioral and Community Sciences, Engineering and from the colleges of USF Health: Morsani College of Medicine, Nursing, Taneja College of Pharmacy, and Public Health (approximately 550 graduates expected to attend). *Samuel P. Bell, III, posthumously, will receive the President’s Distinguished Citizen Award
- 6:30 p.m.: Doctoral degree recipients from the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Behavioral and Community Sciences, Muma College of Business, Education, Engineering, Marine Science, Morsani College of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Taneja College of Pharmacy, and The Arts (approximately 300 graduates expected to attend). *Emiliano Jose Salcines will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities and Jugal Taneja will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Pharmacy
