The 125th Founders’ Week Convocation at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore was a momentous occasion for the university and for 26 students who received their Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees.
Graduate Maureen Hirsch of Fallston, Md., said, “It (graduation) means I’m done. I get to get a job. It’s been eight years of hard work.” Her mom, Terry, added, “It means independence and relief. No, really, we are proud of her accomplishment.”
Hirsch is part of the university’s largest class of physical therapy students to graduate since the doctoral program began in 2005. She joins 22 other Marylanders; seven are from Delmarva.
The next step for the graduates is to sit for the professional licensure exam in October, Janet Mutschler, director of clinical education for the program, said. “They are lining up their jobs and are waiting to be licensed to start,” she said. “From what I hear, they have received offers from acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals and outpatient centers.”
Every UMES graduate since the doctoral program’s inception has earned the professional licensing credential.
Dr. Mortimer Neufville, UMES’ interim president, said the 125th birthday is a celebration of university’s “legacy of caring and excellence and of accepting students with dreams and visions.”
Keynote speaker, university alumna and actress Starletta DuPois, opened her address with a stirring rendition of an old African-American spiritual “Hold On a Little While Longer.”
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