By Rae Arnett
Correspondent
As Eastern New Mexico University students gear up for graduating this Saturday, they find themselves reflecting on the future and how college has changed them as people.
ENMU’s fall commencement ceremony will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Greyhound Arena.
Matthew Heard and Kyle Stephens will be among the graduates walking across the stage Saturday morning.
Heard, 23, will be receiving his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in sociology.
“I would have to say my time at college would be seen as standard college experience by most people. I failed classes I should’ve passed, and I passed classes I should’ve failed. Met amazing people that I hope to keep in touch with for the rest of my life and learned things outside the classroom that will be with me for the rest of my life,” said Heard.
Heard moved to Clovis with his father from Copplestone, England, when he was 13 years old. His original plan was to return to England to attend a university, but he had been out of the English school system for too long, according to Heard.
“I had been out of the English learning system for so long that if I wanted to go to university in England, I would be seen as a foreign student and would have to pay the same fees. So all in all, it was much cheaper for me to continue my learning in America.
ENMU popped up on the radar, because I had a few high school friends going there, and it was convenient to the major I was looking for,” said Heard.
Heard said he hopes to travel after graduation, but that he has mostly been focused on his finals.
“I haven’t really thought about life after graduation too much. As bad as that sounds, I was so focused on finishing that, plans after weren’t even in my mind until the last few weeks. I’ve always wanted to travel to Australia, so I’ve been looking into a working visa over there to see if I can spend a year traveling and working as a go,” said Heard.
Stephens, 22, will be receiving his Bachelor of Science with a major in biology and an emphasis in pre-medicine and a minor in chemistry. Stephens was chosen to represent the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the honors convocation breakfast prior to graduation.
“It is definitely an honor, and I was ecstatic when I was presented the opportunity. I haven’t wrote my speech yet, but it will have a theme of how mentors have impacted my life. I really found myself in college and grew tremendously due to mentors guiding my way. I find it rather amusing that I transformed from a stereotypical jock into who I am now. I know that would have never been possible without the great mentors in my life,” said Stephens.
Stephens said he originally came to Eastern to continue playing football. He was a member of Greyhound football for two and a half years but found more fulfillment in the classroom than on the field, according to Stephens.
“I knew I wanted to work in the allied health field, but it wasn’t until late my Junior year that I committed to medicine.
Unfortunately, my mother was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer during that time, and it really provided a sense of direction.
She passed away in May this year,” said Stephens.
Stephens will also be traveling after graduation.
“Two days after graduation, I will fly to Nepal for a medical mission for six weeks. I will shadow doctors in Kathmandu, work at health posts distributing medications and administering vaccines, and will embark on public outreach opportunities in remote areas,” said Stephens.
Stephens goals after graduation are to attended University of New Mexico Medical School and to eventually become an oncologist.
Marvin Lutnesky, an ecology and biology professor at ENMU, will be the commencement speaker this year.
Lutnesky, who has been with the university since 1992, said this is the first time he has been the commencement speaker for ENMU, and he is looking forward to the opportunity.
“I look forward to seeing all those faces. I have seen so many of them in the classroom. They have made good choices, and I want to talk about the choices they made during their tenure at the university. It is a time to celebrate their accomplishments. They have crossed a finish line but at the same time, it is a starting point for the next phase of their lives,” said Lutnesky.
Stephens said a student’s freshman year is critical to determining their cumulative GPA, so future students need to remember, “don’t screw it up.”
“Have fun in college but realize that how well you do in college can potentially alter the trajectory of your life,” Stephens said of advice he would give to incoming students. “Also, pursue every opportunity that arises and knock on doors to pursue the ones that don’t. I barely made it out of high school. So I consistently pushed myself out of my comfort zone in college, and I think that was the best thing I ever did. Accomplishing things I never dreamed that I could do really benefited me and failing in other areas really taught me about myself.”
Heard said his advice to incoming students would be to join in as many activities held at ENMU as they can.
“It’s the best way to meet new people,” he said. “Also, if you have friends from high school also going to ENMU, don’t just stick with them just because you know them. Not saying completely ignore them but focus on meeting new people, because there are some really amazing stories out there.”
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