The sound of “Pomp and Circumstance” was heard from every corner of UC Merced this weekend, as graduate Bobcats walked through the twin steel arms of the “Beginnings” sculpture, and into the next chapter of their lives.
More than 1,600 students walked across the stage during three commencement ceremonies, marking a record-setting milestone for the university, according to UC Merced.
The ceremonies kicked off Friday evening, with commencement for graduate students.
Saturday morning’s ceremony honored students from the School of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, who accepted their degrees on the university’s Recreation Field to the sounds of cheers from family, friends and faculty.
School of Engineering and Natural Science students celebrated commencement Sunday morning.
Adding to the significance of this year’s ceremonies, the university awarded its 1,000th doctorate, another milestone for the campus which welcomed its first undergraduate class 21 years ago.
Saturday’s ceremony included a commencement address from Dr. Zi Wang, a 2011 UC Merced graduate.
Wang earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in public health from the university before going on to receive his doctor of medicine degree from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.
He later completed an internal medicine internship and neurology residency at the Yale School of Medicine, followed by fellowship training in vascular neurology at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and Zuckerberg San Francisco Hospital, according to UC Merced.
Now a board-certified vascular neurologist, Wang serves as medical director of Sutter Memorial Medical Center’s Primary Stroke Center in Modesto.
“I am incredibly proud of you, we are incredibly proud of you,” said Wang. “I stand before you deeply honored, humbled to represent the alumni of this remarkable institution. A university that not long ago, many people have never even heard of.”
Wang, who said he was accepted to six other UC campuses and eight colleges in total, said some of his friends told him he was making a mistake by going to UC Merced. He said he found out one person even said he was ruining his life.
“So if any of you have ever been doubted, dismissed, under estimated, good,” he said. “Because your critics, they are not your obstacles, they are your fuel. They are the quiet voice that says “‘prove it.'”
Graduate Kampbell Bryant, 21, of Temecula, said the first thing she plans to do following graduation is to take a well-deserved break which includes plans to travel to the Caribbean.
“After I come back to the U.S. I’m going to start prepping and studying for the LSAT,” she said. “I hope I can go to a law program at either Chapman (University) or UC (Irvine) and hopefully go into finance litigation.”
Graduate Griffin Cheng, 23, of Daly City, said that with his business degree, he would like to pursue a career in finance.
“Especially in private equity,” said Cheng. “Maybe something along the lines of venture capital or investment banking.”
Julie Tran, 21, of San Jose, said it’s bittersweet saying goodbye to all of her friends upon graduating. As a graduate with a public health and psychology degree, she plans to work over the summer as a patient outtake assistant.
“I’m currently hoping to get into a medical assisting program,” said Tran. She is currently in a nursing program. “I definitely do want to kind of ease my way into medical assisting, get some patient care hours and then go back to school for all my (prerequisites) and then hopefully PA school in the long run.”
