'It's all worth it': Thousands set to graduate as ASU hosts commencement ceremonies
Thousands of Arizona State University students on Monday were met with maroon and gold streamers in the latest commencement ceremonies for fall graduates.
More than 11,000 students will graduate from ASU this week, including nearly 6,000 students enrolled in online programs.
The college with the most graduates this semester was The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with 2,371 students. The Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering had 2,271 and the W. P. Carey School of Business had 1,115. More than 7,000 students applied for undergraduate degrees this semester and more than 3,500 students applied for graduate or law degrees.
‘Why I started it all’
Anastacia Tello, 24, said Monday’s celebration was just one of five she’s planning to attend. A total of 28 ASU graduation ceremonies will take place from Dec. 9 to Dec. 14.
Tello, an Arizona native, earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and attended Monday’s graduation with her mother, fiance and siblings. She said she started to reminisce during the ceremony over her last several years in school.
“A lot of it helps me to think back to why I started it all,” Tello said.
As the first in her family to receive a college degree, she said she hopes she will be a role model for her seven siblings.
She will begin her career at a critical care unit in Colorado. But before then, she said she hopes to spend time with family and friends after spending much of her time focusing on her studies.
Almost 1,000 students graduating this week are from ASU’s Starbucks College Achievement Plan. The partnership program pays the tuition costs for Starbucks employees to receive online degrees from the university.
One of those students, Heather Varsalona, attended Monday’s ceremony after first starting her job at Starbucks when she was in high school in 1995. She later left to care for her children but returned to the job in 2016. She started her schooling in 2018. She said the transition to online classes was difficult at the start.
“At first it was super isolating,” she said.
But she joined several student groups with ASU online, she said, and later an online sorority. It was a process getting to graduation day. She took a semester off to grieve the loss of a family member and was caring for her three children throughout, but five years later, she graduated with degrees in global health and communications.
"There's days where it feels like you can't do it," Varsalona said. "But it's all worth it."
Pride in higher education
President Michael Crow said in his address to the crowd that the ceremony was an example of the strength of higher education, despite concerns portrayed in the media.
“We know who we are,” he said. “We are the protectors of the future.”
Both Crow and Arizona Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal shared a concern over the rise of misinformation, particularly in social media. The two leaders said education will be crucial in promoting critical thinking skills.
“Higher education is the anecdote to these informational cul-de-sacs,” DuVal said.
More than 4,500 of the graduates this semester are from Arizona. While the college-going rate across the state rests at only 30% according to the Arizona Board of Regents, ASU officials have cited local partnerships to help facilitate high school students to seek higher education.
Helen Rummel covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU to honor thousands of graduates at fall commencement ceremonies
