周日, 12月18日, 密苏里大学堪萨斯分校最新的毕业班将走上讲台, 经过多年的努力和奉献，他们获得了毕业证书.

Each grad embarked on an individual journey full of professional and personal growth, 最后在家人面前举行毕业典礼, 朋友和同伴. 以下是对这两段旅程的概述.

Amelia Hess – Master of Arts in Counseling – School of Education, Social Work & 心理科学

阿米莉亚·赫斯在另一所学校开始了她的大学之旅, 但她在大学圈子里找不到自己的位置.

她在大二的时候转到了密苏里大学堪萨斯分校，并获得了本科和, 最终, 她的硕士学位.

“这是堪萨斯城社区的一个缩影. You have all these different people coming here, different majors, different programs,赫斯说. “我非常高兴。, 我在高中的时候非常投入，所以当我上大学的时候我就知道了, 我想继续下去.”

通过参与校园组织，她在UMKC找到了自己的位置, 包括性与性别联盟(SAGA), serving as president and the student MC for the Pride Breakfast; the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); and Roos for Mental Health. She also worked as a residential life coordinator at the Hospital Hill apartments.

“我找到了可以做不一样的自己的地方，”赫斯说. “I found places where I could really enjoy studying psychology and the professional world, but I also found the SAGA council where I could have a leadership position on a queer organization which is hard to find in other places.”

在她在堪萨斯大学的职业生涯中, 她会见了一些教授, leaders and fellow classmates who have helped her set up her post-graduation plans at an area mental health facility as a therapist associate.

“I’m going to help them implement what they call a psychedelic assisted therapy program, which is kind of a new area of mental health and therapy where people are being administered medicinal treatments for depression, 焦虑, 创伤后应激障碍,赫斯说. “I get to take leadership and apply some of those other skills I developed along the years to help create a program and hopefully get it to the point where hopefully one day new grads will come and work there with us.”

Hess credits her willingness to get involved in different groups at UMKC with helping her feel prepared for the next steps in her career.

“我认为UMKC, since it is in the metropolitan area and it is a bigger school with more opportunities and connections to the city, is a great opportunity for someone who wants to change schools because you’re supported, 但你也被当作成年人对待,赫斯说.

Christian Dang – Bachelor of Science in Biology – 科学与工程学院

源自约2年.5小时车程的斯普林菲尔德, 密苏里州, Christian Dang landed at UMKC after looking for an affordable education that also allowed for a change of environment.

“I love Kansas City because of the diversity and everything it provides,Dang说. “我真的很喜欢UMKC的规模. It’s like a medium sized institution so it’s not too small or too large and I feel like you can really make more meaningful connections with faculty members that way.”

Dang对生物学的兴趣始于高中, 但当他到了密苏里大学堪萨斯分校, 他对研究产生了热情.

“我仍然对医学感兴趣, 但我也对研究感兴趣, 我在密苏里大学堪萨斯分校参与了很多,Dang说. “And I really do think UMKC provides a lot of ways to get involved in research no matter what discipline you are in.”

四年制荣誉课程学生, Dang介绍了他的项目, “A Self-Directed Mutagenesis Approach for Examining the Drosophila Tribbles Recognition Degron in the C/EBP Transcription Factor SIBO,” at the Summer Undergraduate 研究 Opportunities (SUROP) Poster Symposium. He also served as a student reviewer and marketing and design coordinator for UMKC’s undergraduate research journal, Lucerna.

He said commencement “is going to be a surreal moment for me having spent these last four years here at UMKC and knowing what a difference it has made in my personal career and personal development.”

毕业后, Dang将前往贝塞斯达, 马里兰, where he will take part in fellowship at the National Institute of Health (NIH) where he will conduct biomedical research in the Muscle Energetics Laboratory. Only 24 percent of applicants were selected over the past year, according to the NIH.

“这绝对让人感到羞愧, knowing that you’ve been given this opportunity that not everyone has been able to receive,Dang说. “Knowing to acknowledge the work you’ve done to get this part of your life and knowing people have trust in you that you’re doing to do great things in your life, 你继续投入工作和努力，尽你所能做到最好.”

Dang credits the opportunities provided by UMKC for setting him up to succeed after receiving his diploma and believes others can achieve the same whether they are from the area or from farther away.

“Even from outside Kansas City I would recommend going here for college just because of the community here and the ease of meeting faculty members and peer mentors who will help you and the wide range of student organizations that are available here,Dang说. “There’s really a lot to offer at UMKC that I feel not a whole lot of people know about.”