From teachers of the deaf to published poets, Flagler College's graduates are a distinguished group

Flagler College will celebrate its 2022 student graduates at a commencement ceremony at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre today.

All told, 546 graduates will walk for the spring graduation exercises of the private, four-year college in St. Augustine.

The Record asked Flagler administrators to submit profiles of just several of the standouts among this year's class of graduates.

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Ainsley Berg

For the past two years, English writing major Ainsley Berg has diligently worked on her honors capstone project, a chapbook of poems titled "The Sliding Glass Door." Five of the poems have been published in national journals including The Pointed Circle and Chasing Shadows Magazine. In addition, her English sonnet, "The Dead Deer's Cry," won the Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award, capturing a $1,000 prize.

Professor Lauren Tivey, visiting lecturer and coordinator of the English for Academic Purposes Center, said, “Ainsley's work is highly polished and exhibits true talent, as well as painstaking craftsmanship and important themes.”

Berg is currently working toward the publication of her poetry chapbook. But her ambition and interests extend beyond poetry. With a minor in political science, she plans to work at a law firm after graduation to gain a foothold in the field of law.

Maiya Mahoney

Digital media production and journalism major Maiya Mahoney’s passion for storytelling has led her to pursue a career as a journalist.

“I find a lot of joy in being able to share others’ experiences and bring awareness to underreported happenings locally and around the world,” said Mahoney.

She credits her time at Flagler for “honing my leadership skills and connecting with various people around campus and the St. Augustine community” through her published stories — specifically, her work as a Pulitzer Center Fellow in July 2021, where she traveled to the blue zone of Loma Linda, California, to report on the secret of longevity.

“Putting myself in a community I was unfamiliar with and having to make those connections was a transformative experience that I would not have been able to have with Flagler offering the Pulitzer class,” Mahoney said.

Chris Metzger

Flagler basketball team captain Chris Metzger has excelled on and off the court during his time as a student at Flagler. With an extra year of athletic eligibility available to him, he was able to explore more career options through the criminology and sociology major in the summer of 2021.

Through an internship program organized by the athletics program, Metzger connected with Chris Kamienski, the First Coast division president of SouthState Bank.

"Chris went through a 12-week program that had him rotate through the various departments within a commercial bank," Kamienski said. "He spent time with the retail teams, learned about the commercial loan process and our business lending process, read and studied leadership books, went to the Chick-fil-A leadership academy and did a capstone presentation on his program to the executive team."

Metzger holds the program record for all-time shooting percentage which was a school record last year. He also earned academic all-conference honors and was the program's first player selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honor Court.

Sam Sawney

Sam Sawney has spent his senior year at Flagler as part of a team of fourth-year digital media production and journalism majors as undergraduate research interns working to capture contemporary voices around the 1968 Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination events.

To date, Sawney has contributed nearly 30 interviews, including those with political dignitaries, such as the mayor of Indianapolis, the Indiana Commissioner of Higher Education, artists, community members and more. Sawney is graduating from the Flagler College Honors Program and has accepted an offer to serve the College as an Academic Advisor for the Center for Advising and Core Experience (CASE).

Chelsea Downes

Deaf and hard of hearing major Chelsea Downes works with a range of deaf and hard of hearing kids, generally grades six through 12, as a reading teacher and a provider of specialized instruction for other content areas.

Downes aims to create a safe and accessible learning environment for her students.

"Though I am not D/HH myself, I do resonate with some of the struggles my students face now, both personally and academically," Downes said. "As such, it is incredibly important to me that my students know how much I care about them. Even though I maintain high expectations with my students, I make sure they feel comfortable enough to make (and learn from) their mistakes.”

Downes plans to teach elementary school students in a self-contained classroom after she graduates. Eventually, she would like to continue her education with a master’s degree in deaf ed or special ed.

James Mernik

First-generation college student James Mernik is paying it forward in a big way.

Mernik, a class of Fall 2021 criminology student, has created The Richard and Judith Anderson Memorial scholarship in honor of his late grandparents and ongoing supporters, Richard and Judy Anderson. The scholarship will “allow many other students to pursue their dreams by furthering their education and bettering the world," according to Mernik.

Giving is nothing new to Mernik, who served in the Flagler College community as vice president of student affairs and vice president of Flagler’s Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Mernik is inspired by travel and immersing himself in other cultures.

He shared this advice to new students: “Take risks and step out of your comfort zone. Study abroad, go and see the world, do it while you can."

Currently, Mernik is studying for the LSAT and plans to attend law school, possibly at the Tulane University of Louisiana, to study criminal law.

Flagler College Spring 2022 Graduation:

Commencement takes place at 7 tonight at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre and will celebrate the classes of Fall 2021, Spring 2022 and Summer 2022. Livestream: youtube.com/watch?v=B9MHH9VCYKw.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Flagler College's 2022 graduates include many standouts