Starla Agoney gave the student commencement speech during Saturday’s UAS graduation at the Ted Ferry Civic Center.
University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan Campus celebrated its 2015 graduates this weekend. One graduate chosen to give the student address started it with her indigenous language.
Starla Agoney received her degree in elementary education in full regalia, with her graduate’s tassel pinned to a traditional woven cedar-bark hat.
And when she gave her commencement address, she began in Haida.
Fifteen graduates participated in Saturday’s ceremony. Thirty nine students received degrees from UAS Ketchikan this year.
UAS Ketchikan Campus Director Priscilla Schulte introduced Agoney, who received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education through the Preparing Indigenous Teachers for Alaska Schools program.
“Starla’s instructors will all tell you she’s raised the level of academic discussion in their classes, challenging both herself and her classmates to get more from their student experiences,” Schulte said.
In her speech to fellow graduates, Agoney used an example of climbing Ketchikan’s iconic Deer Mountain to illustrate the challenge of making it through a college program.
“It had been on my to-do list for a long time. But for 32 years, other things took higher priority,” she said. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to climb the mountain, but I didn’t have the confidence that I could make it to the top.”
Roy McPherson received a Meritorious Service Award during Saturday’s UAS Ketchikan graduation ceremony.,
Agoney said family and friends helped by setting small goals along the way, and taking breaks as needed. The last push was the most difficult, but accomplishing that goal felt great at the end. Agoney says she knew then that she could make other dreams come true.
“I had never thought about going to college. I was married and a mother by age of 19. And it seemed impossible to be anything more than a mother and a wife,” she said. “I hadn’t even graduated from high school.”
Her husband encouraged Agoney to go through a GED program, and later, she says, she found herself enrolling at UAS, giving herself another mountain to climb.
Like with Deer Mountain, Agoney says she made it with the encouragement of family and friends. And she’s not alone – the other graduates climbed along with her.
“We’re at the top of the mountain,” she said. “And we’re calling to everyone who has the dream of a college education: ‘We’re here. You can do it.’”
Agoney graduated cum laude, and received a regional award in addition to her degree,
UA President Patrick Gamble was one of the speakers during Saturday’s graduation.
recognizing her as one of this year’s outstanding Southeast graduates.
Other speakers during Saturday’s graduation ceremony were UAS Chancellor John Pugh, University of Alaska President Patrick Gamble; and Commencement Speaker Doug Ward. Longtime band director and music teacher Roy McPherson received a Meritorious Service Award.
Thirty-nine students graduated this year from UAS Ketchikan. They’re listed below.
Certificate – Accounting Technician
Tracy Benner
Yasmine Davis
Certificate – Small Business Management
Kay Brudos
Certificate – Health Information Management / Coding Specialist
Anna Caparas
Associate of Applied Science – Business Administration
Yasmine Davis
Morgan Enright
Elena Gubina
Associate of Applied Science – Fisheries Technology
Miranda Green
Clayton Hamilton
Associate of Arts
Trina Anderson
Margaret Baca
Cynthia Bashaw
Chelsea Brown
Cassandra Christopherson
Nicolette Johnson
John McAllister
Stephanie Petersen
Laura Plenert
Dustin Shull
Associate of Science
Kalli Kline
Bachelor of Arts – Elementary Education
Starla Agoney
Bachelor of Arts – Social Science
Jessica Creen
Bachelor of Business Administration – Accounting
Amanda Dixon
Bachelor of Business Administration – Entrepreneurship
Tuffina Arnold
Kristen Gilliard
Bachelor of Business Administration – Management
Kristen Gilliard
Bachelor of Liberal Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies
Nora Dale
Lisa Dewitt-Narino
Alethea Johnson
Arika Paquette
Master of Arts in Teaching, Secondary Education
Peter Stanton
Carena Wood
Master of Education, Educational Leadership
Michael Cron
Master of Education, Educational Technology & Graduate Certificate
Tiffany Pickrell
Master of Education, Mathematics Education
Heather Davis
Jennifer McCarty
Master of Public Administration
Brenda Behrendt-Bidwell
Matthew Groves
Katie Jo Parrott
