Final words from graduating PUC students

The time has come - it is the end of the school year and graduation is just around the corner. On May 20, those who have finished their time at PUC in fall 2011 and spring 2012 will walk down the aisle at the Star Plaza in Merrillville to receive their diplomas.

Over 800 students throughout campus are eligible for degrees and certificates, though advisors are still sending in updates to this number daily, according to Graduation Coordinator Kim Frazier.

Accounting and Finance major Asia Dumas wants to be a staff accountant after graduating, but has not found her first job yet. She has been a part of the Finance and Accounting Club for two years.

“We have some great teachers. They are really invested in their students,” Dumas said about the finance and accounting program at PUC.

Accounting and Finance major Angelita Reyes, who minors in international business and Spanish, also praised the accounting and finance program.

“I believe that my degree and my program have really prepared me for my career and the real world,” Reyes said. “I thank PUC for such a great education.”

Reyes wants to become a certified public accountant after graduation. She has been an integral part of many student organizations during her time at PUC, including Los Latinos, Alpha Psi Lambda, Finance and Accounting Club, Purdue University Calumet Cultural Association and SGA.

“I’ve held various positions in each organization ranging from president, vice president, treasurer and secretary,” Reyes said.

Sarah Neely, a nursing major who finished PUC during fall 2011, will be a part of May 20’s graduation ceremony as well. Currently, Neely is working as a registered nurse at Methodist Hospital Northwest.

Neely said she admires the nursing professors at PUC because they do whatever they can for their students to do well on the boards and the nursing program.

“From talking to other people that are nursing students at other campuses and universities, I don’t think they have the same experience as we do. In the nursing program we stick together, and you get to know each other really well,” Neely said.

Biology major Donna Sadural also finished her degree in fall 2011. She would like to attend graduate school for public health, concentrating on maternal and child health, with an eventual goal of creating more health education opportunities for children. Sadural participated in Los Latinos, the Honors Program and the International Student Organization during the time she was at PUC.

“It’s a small school so I had to make the best of it by joining different organizations and networking with different people,” Sadural said. “As far as the biological science program at PUC, it has a strong faculty that wants to see its students succeed. I’m confident that over the years, the program will be even better.”