When 303 students receive degrees next weekend at University of the Virgin Islands commencement exercises, they will be marking the culmination of one journey and embarking on the first leg of another.
Among the 202 students from the St. Thomas campus who will receive degrees at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on May 20 are nursing major Michele Stout, mathematics major Andie Hodge and social sciences major Lavern Queeley.
Stout, 21, enrolled at UVI as an early admissions student and has consistently excelled. Her senior project sought to increase the community's awareness of prostate cancer risks and to encourage those at risk to be tested. After receiving her bachelor's degree in nursing from UVI, Stout plans to obtain a master's degree in public health or in adult medical/surgical nursing. She is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and is the daughter of Roy and Noreen Stout.
Hodge, 24, received first prize in mathematics at the Miles College Winter Research Conference in Birmingham, Alabama for his project, "The probability of false diagnosis of prostate cancer using a logistic function, a patient's age and f/t PSA ratio." Hodge plans to pursue a doctorate degree in applied mathematics.
Intrigued by mathematics since high school, Hodge changed his major course of study at UVI from business to mathematics."In the sciences everything is dynamic –– constantly changing –– there is always something new to learn," he said. After graduate school, Hodge plans to work, perhaps as an engineer, and then return to the Caribbean to teach.
Queeley, 27, is the recipient of UVI's Social Sciences Faculty Award, given to the graduating senior with the highest GPA (3.79) who has made the biggest contribution to the social sciences department. She is also the recipient of the Emily Jones-James Economics Award and the Isidor and Charlotte Paiewonsky Social Sciences Award for the graduating student with the highest GPA. Queeley was a teaching assistant in Fall 1999 to Dr. Ededet Iniama, chairman of the Division of Social Sciences. A member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, Queeley has been admitted to The University of Akron as a candidate to receive a master's degree in public administration.
Accounting major Josephine Larsen and Computer Science major Calvin Harrigan are
two of the 101 students on UVI's St. Croix campus who will receive degrees on May 21 at the Island Center.
Larsen, 20, has been on the academic fast-track since being accepted at UVI in 1996 as part of the Early Admissions Program. She has been named Most Promising Student Leader 1997-1998, Student of the Year from 1997 through 1999, and has received the Alpha Kappa Alpha International Scholar Award and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Undergraduate Soror of the Year Award in 2000. Larsen is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, is on the Dean's List and was named to Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. After she receives her bachelor's degree in accounting from UVI, Larsen will be employed as an associate manager with AT&T in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
Harrigan, 27, a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, is the recipient of the UVI Science and Mathematics Division's Best Academic Performance in Computer Science Award. Harrigan worked full time at HOVENSA while pursuing his bachelor's degree at UVI full time. He looks forward to a career as a software engineer and has plans to continue his education in order to receive a doctoral degree.
What these young people all have in common is that their lives have been dramatically changed by the learning experiences they have had at UVI.
