Success takes vision, integrity and optimism, speaker tells SEMO graduates

The keynote speaker at Southeast Missouri State University's spring commencement asked the more than 1,100 graduates to embrace their "VIP status" Saturday and learn something from it.

Success will take vision, integrity and persistence, Michael Braun told graduates at the Show Me Center.

"You need to establish goals and objectives. Where do you want your vision to take you?" said Braun, a 1977 Southeast graduate and managing partner of Spectre Group International. "All true visionaries are optimistic, too. If your mindset when you leave here is 'I will get a job,' you'll get a job."

Four sets of sisters, military men and women, working mothers and fathers and an NFL offensive lineman were among the 1,022 undergraduates and 151 graduate students to accept their diplomas.

Cynthia Schmoll, who received her master's degree in public administration, was proud of her accomplishments and said she walked at graduation Saturday so her 85-year-old mother could see her receive her diploma.

"It's been a long road for me, because I went back to college at age 47," said Schmoll, now 63. "I was a single parent at the time, and I wanted to support my children without depending on anyone else."

Although her algebra classes were difficult, Schmoll said, she enjoyed meeting other nontraditional students while studying at Southeast and was encouraged knowing she wasn't the only woman her age working toward a degree.

She'll continue her job at the university's human and environmental services department working with adults with disabilities.

Kansas City native Jajuan Maxwell, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in criminal justice, was pleased to accept his degree with the support of his mother, aunts, grandmother and four cousins Saturday.

While he's uncertain what he'll do with his degree, his next step in life will likely involve moving closer to home. "I'll go wherever life takes me," he said. "I'm really, really excited to receive my diploma."

Allie Borowiak of Nashville, Ill., will leave Southeast and begin her graduate education at a college in Illinois. Borowiak, 23, who played softball during her college career, said she's leaving behind many good memories of time on the field with her teammates.

"It was stressful juggling school and athletics, but once it's over and done with you're glad you did it," she said.

Before the presentation of degrees, six Southeast alumni received the university's 2010 Young Alumni Merit Award. The award is given annually to honor alumni younger than 37 who bring distinction to Southeast through their professional growth and character. Receiving the awards were Jessica Kime, a 2000 graduate from St. Louis; Kamilla Riek, a 1997 graduate of St. Louis; Trenton Blair, a 1997 graduate from Warrensburg, Mo.; Jason LeGrand, a 1997 graduate of Washington, D.C.; Jason Landers, a native of Sikeston, Mo., who graduated in 1997; and Matthew Basch, a 2003 graduate of St. Louis.

Closing his commencement address, Braun, formerly chief of operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told students it's important to act with integrity no matter what path they take. As they seek success, he said, they'll encounter tough times, but those times will be even tougher if they lose sight of what they believe in.

"If you begin to question your principles, keep your mind and eyes wide open. Do not miss the signals God gives you to make sense of your own core beliefs," Braun said.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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