The School of Continuing Studies (SCS) caters to the nontraditional student — those who continue to work full time while pursuing a degree, older adults seeking additional education and well-established professionals looking to expand their skills.

SCS students, therefore, must work harder to balance their studies with their personal lives. Take Anne Jurgensen (G’09), who earned a master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications. Her son Niels, 2, decked out in a Georgetown baseball hat, plays with her tassel as Anne explains her decision to return to school.

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The School of Continuing Studies (SCS) held its first awards ceremony on May 13 in the Leavey Hotel and Conference Center. Students and faculty from each department were honored in front of an audience of their peers, friends and family in celebration of their academic and professional achievements.
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Vy Hoang Uyen Le, who topped her graduating class with a 4.0 grade point average, gives her valedictorian address during the MSB Tropaia ceremony on Friday.

Graduating seniors and faculty were recognized for their outstanding achievements in academics, community service, teaching, and research at the 52nd Tropaia Exercises at the Georgetown McDonough School of Business on May 15.

Deputy Dean Ricardo Ernst presided over the ceremony, which was held at historic Gaston Hall.

Vy Hoang Uyen Le, who topped her graduating class with a 4.0 grade point average, was named valedictorian.

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When Christian Gonzalez (G’09) decided to come to Georgetown for a master’s degree in biotechnology, he was nervous. Christian hails from Puerto Rico and thought the language barrier between Spanish and English — especially given the jargon in his field — would trip him up. That’s why he decided to attend school part time.

Two years later, Gonzalez sat in Dahlgren Square with his classmates on May 15, celebrating their achievements at a reception following the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ commencement ceremony. Under an expansive tent with a DJ pumping music into the air and celebratory wine flowing, Christian had a relieved look on his face.

“I’m happy I’m done,” he said. “It was hard at first, not speaking the language. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it through. But in this program, we’re a family. I got a lot of help from my program director and professors.”

Christian is staying in the Washington area and beginning a biotechnology position at a private firm.

William Gyude Moore (G’09), the student speaker at the tropaia and diploma ceremony for the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program, is at peace with his uncertain future.

Better than any of his fellow graduates, perhaps, Gyude knows that current circumstances mean little. The Liberian born Gyude took the audience back to his adolescence in West Africa, where he and his family were forced to flee fighting. His mother had just given birth to twins days before the family ran for safety – his frail newborn sister did not survive the family’s journey.

Later in a refugee camp in Côte d’Ivoire, Gyude had a case of dysentery so acute that his family accepted his death as inevitable.

“It doesn’t require much creativity or imagination to appreciate the vast chasm between the child who lay dying in a refugee camp and the man who is delivering this address today,” Gyude said. “Just because a person is in one place today, that doesn’t mean that’s where he’s going to end up. I want you to remember that.”

Things won’t always go as planned for MSFS graduates, Gyude told his classmates, but with disappointments comes transformations.

“It’s not a matter of if we’ll shape the future,” he said, “it’s a matter of when.”

Click here to watch streaming video of the entire Graduate School Commencement Ceremony on Healy Lawn.

Each year, Georgetown College recognizes graduating students who excel in the classroom. The following students received awards from the College for exemplary academic achievements:

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Selected to speak by their peers at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI ), Megan Aghazadian (G’09) and Lt Col. Gregory Gadson (G’09) shared some thoughts on their quest to earn their master’s degrees.

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