Your Life is Now
VWC Professor Rita Frank, Emerita, shares her insights on life's transitions with December graduates
By Laynee Timlin | January 22, 2011
(NORFOLK/VIRGINIA BEACH, VA) Dr. Rita Frank, recipient of the 2010 Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Teaching Award, was the speaker for the reception honoring Virginia Wesleyan's December graduates. Her address focused on transitions, a topic she with which she is all too familiar.
"We are both going through a transition that essentially shifts our identity," she told the audience, "You are changing from a college student to a college graduate who will soon be experimenting with new ways of navigating your world. I have changed from a college professor to a retiree, who also is in the process of exploring new ways of being."
Dr. Frank shared lessons she'd recently learned and stories about her travel experiences.
"Life will surprise you," she said. "If you are open to those surprises, your life will be richer than you ever could have imagined."
She implored the graduates to remember the values imparted by their education and to think of themselves as artisans with something distinctive to offer in the workplace.
"Those of you who find meaningful, well-paying work in the world will be those who have learned not to do things by rote," she said, but instead to approach challenges with careful consideration and an awareness of one's unique strengths.
Finally, Dr. Frank reminded the graduates of the power of the present.
"You will be tempted in the next few months to say, 'Real life will start when I get my dream job,' or 'Real life will start when I move out of my parents' house.'"
The urge to live life in a holding pattern, she said, must be resisted.
Your life is now," she assured them. "This moment!"
Her address ended with a toast to the graduates.
"As you transition from college student to college graduate, may you enjoy many surprises, may you enter a career in which you can experience real meaning and passion, and may you always say to yourself 'My life is now!' L'Chaim—To Life!"
Congratulations to the December Graduates, who are also invited to participate in May 2011 Commencement exercises. |
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Bachelor of Arts Degree |
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Frank E. Anderson |
Interdivisional |
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‡ Beth A. Atkins |
Interdivisional |
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‡ Johanna L. Bender, magna cum laude |
Interdivisional |
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Terrence J. Brathwaite |
Communications |
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William Mark Childress |
Earth and Environmental Sciences |
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Anna Kate Collier |
Interdivisional |
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Jennifer L. Colwell, cum laude |
Recreation and Leisure Studies |
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Brittany K. Daniels |
Recreation and Leisure Studies |
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Theresa Lynn Delp, magna cum laude |
Business |
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Kim Srav Iv Eisele |
Biology |
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Brittany M. Grauberger |
Social Sciences |
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Lynnette J. Haigler |
Criminal Justice |
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Kathleen P. Haithcock |
Business |
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Christopher A. Hall, cum laude |
Social Sciences |
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Caleb K. Hansen |
Business |
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Robyn B. Honneycutt |
Business |
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Shannon Alaine Howell |
Business |
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‡ Jerilyn Susanne Idler |
Earth and Environmental Sciences |
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Brittany N. Jackman, magna cum laude |
Criminal Justice |
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Jackelyn Janet Jarzynka |
Business |
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Stephanie K. Johnson |
Business |
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Whitney F. King |
Interdivisional |
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Kasey B. Kirven |
English |
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Brittany M. Knaggs, magna cum laude |
International Studies and Political Science |
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Jeremy A. MacMicking |
Recreation and Leisure Studies |
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Robert T. Mann |
Business |
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Ryan G. Metz |
Criminal Justice |
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Latonya R. Morris |
English |
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Micah Leigh Orsetti, magna cum laude |
Theatre and English |
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Stefanie R. Osfolk |
Business |
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Chelsea Elizabeth Panissidi, cum laude |
History |
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‡ Britani N. Reese |
Interdivisional |
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Robert L. Robertson |
Social Studies |
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Martha J. Ruehlmann |
Communications |
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Amanda L. Sampson, magna cum laude |
Psychology |
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Elizabeth A. Scales-Pfalzgraf |
Criminal Justice |
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Heather N. Templeton, magna cum laude |
Communications and Religious Studies |
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Henry C. Turner, Jr., magna cum laude |
Art |
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‡ Heather E. Waild |
Interdivisional |
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Raymond J. Wells, Jr. |
Business |
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Stuart R. White |
History |
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Brian S. Witt |
Business |
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Catherine R. Woodson |
Business |
Bachelor of Science Degree |
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Dayna R. Cook |
Biology |
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‡ Graduates who have completed requirements for teacher licensure in Virginia. |
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