It\u2019s time to graduate.<\/p>\n
The University of Alaska Southeast\u2019s 2018 Juneau graduating class will be hearing cheers from excited family members, peers and the public during the commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Student Recreation Center.<\/p>\n
UAS expects to award 410 associate, bachelor, and master\u2019s degrees, 128 certificates and professional licensures, and 174 occupational endorsements across the campuses of Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan.<\/p>\n
Two of those students, Erin Ohlson and Blake Fletcher, were chosen by UAS Chancellor Rick Caulfield to speak at the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Erin Ohlson, master\u2019s in Public Administration<\/span><\/p>\n Erin Ohlson, of Gustavus, thought she was done with school after graduating with her Associate\u2019s of Arts in Sociology at the College of Southern Nevada and receiving her bachelor\u2019s degree in general studies from the University of Alaska Southeast. She started volunteering and then working at The Rookery at Gustavus \u2014 a preschool and childcare program \u2014 after her oldest daughter started at the program.<\/p>\n However, as the program changed, so too did the regulations. At that point Ohlson needed to push forward with her education. That is when she decided to go back to school and take online courses at UAS. This weekend she is graduating with her master\u2019s in Public Administration and will be speaking about her experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say how much of an honor it is to be asked to speak,\u201d Ohlson said. \u201cIt really surprised me. It\u2019s a huge opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohlson said her experience earning her master\u2019s has given her invaluable knowledge at her job. Ohlson said the courses she has taken, in particularly public financial management, have really helped build on her role at the company as the Chief Executive Officer.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the changes in the required formality were made, we did not have a strategic plan to fall back on,\u201d Ohlson said. \u201cThis program helped me develop policy and procedures. It also helped with writing the company\u2019s mission statement which had not been redone since 2007. It really helped me find areas that I did not even know to really look at.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohlson said because of her experience in the program she said anyone pursuing work in the public service field should pursue an advance degree at UAS.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this program, you can decide to go very in-depth in one area or you can touch on several different aspects of public service,\u201d she said. \u201cIn undergrad, there is not as many public service degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohlson also added how much the online courses changed her life.<\/p>\n \u201cThat fact that the program is online is big, especially if you are busy with a job,\u201d Ohlson said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have a degree without the online program.\u201d<\/p>\n Ohlson said the 10 years it has taken her to reach this particular goal has been worth it because it has allowed her to continue working in a field she enjoys. Ohlson also said speaking in front of her family, including her 92-year-old grandfather, is also a great experience.<\/p>\n \u201cI am really excited to share my knowledge,\u201d she said. \u201cI was able to gain that knowledge behind the strength of my family and the community. Now I am able to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake Fletcher, Bachelor of Arts in English and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics<\/span><\/p>\n Blake Fletcher, of Hardwick, Vermont, learned early on that he wanted to make a difference.<\/p>\n After spending a year on the railroad in Skagway, Fletcher decided to become a teacher.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, my plan was not to go to school,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cMy plan was to go to Skagway and work for the railroad like my grandfather did. I worked for one year at the railroad and decided I wanted to pursue an education.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Fletcher is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and will be speaking about his life and his time so far at UAS.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really it is a big honor,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cIt comes with some pressure, but I am very grateful to have this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Fletcher wants to continue his education and has applied for the master\u2019sn Teaching program at UAS. If he gets in, he wants to return to his hometown in Vermont and be a mentor to students.<\/p>\n \u201cI have noticed people have had awful experiences with their math teachers,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cI had teachers in high school that kept me motivated and I hope I might be able to go back and pay it forward. I want to not only be a teacher, but a role model.\u201d<\/p>\n Fletcher said his mother had two children in her teens and his father went to prison when he was a child. He said it was those experiences that have helped make him the person he is today.<\/p>\n \u201cTrauma kind of hits everybody in some way,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t consider those things when we are communicating with each other, I don\u2019t think there is a lot of room for progress.\u201d<\/p>\n Fletcher said when he started school, he wasn\u2019t sure which courses to study.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first year (at UAS) I was not a great student, but I was able to experience a few classes that motivated me to push myself in a certain direction,\u201d he said. \u201cThose classes were my English and math classes.\u201d<\/p>\n Fletcher said studying both fields has allowed him to become a more well-rounded person.<\/p>\n \u201cMath is really about knowing how to problem solve and thinking about what you are given and asking \u2018what does that mean and where can I can go from here?\u2019\u201d In literature I was able to look back. I was able to read through pieces of literature that had covered a wide variety of historical events I had previously overlooked. In reading through those books, I was able to realize we need to be more understanding with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s time to graduate. The University of Alaska Southeast\u2019s 2018 Juneau graduating class will be hearing cheers from excited family members, peers and the public during the commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Student Recreation Center. UAS expects to award 410 associate, bachelor, and master\u2019s degrees, 128 certificates and professional licensures, and 174 occupational […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":14667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-14666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14666"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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