One hundred and sixty degrees were conferred during the Adult and Online Education commencement ceremony Saturday, May 13, in Turner Auditorium. Students represented the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Education and the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business.
Adult & Online Education students hail from the Fort Liberty/Pope field campus, Camp Lejeune/New River campus, RTP campus and Campbell Online. As adult learners and professionals, many of these graduates have pursued higher education while maintaining other important responsibilities.
Commencement speaker Erasmo “Moe” Espino knows full well the challenges of pursuing a degree as an adult learner. As a young soldier, Espino first enrolled at Campbell University’s Fort Liberty campus in 2002. He successfully completed Special Forces Selection in 2002 and earned his Green Beret in 2004. Sergeant Espino was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Liberty, NC, where he deployed eight times to various countries around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2011, Sergeant Espino left active duty to complete his undergraduate education. He joined the North Carolina National Guard and served as a Medical and Operations Sergeant with the 20th Special Forces Group. He deployed three additional times with the National Guard while being simultaneously enrolled at Campbell University, where he graduated with Bachelor of Health Sciences degree, ten years after beginning his studies. Espino, now married with three children, was accepted into the inaugural class of Campbell University’s Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine. He will graduate in May 2017 with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree and pursue residency training in Emergency Medicine.
Espino acknowledged that many of today’s adult and online graduates may have also taken an alternative path to earning their degree.
“I’m one of you,” said Espino, a first generation American. “Someone trying to navigate this adventure called life. My experience was different. It was non-traditional but it was my path.”
Speaking of his choice to complete the degree he started as a young soldier, Espino said he relied on the discipline learned from his many years in the Army to make graduating college his next mission to further improve himself. In the same manner, he encouraged graduates to celebrate today’s achievement, but to keep pursuing further glory.
“The decision to stop improving yourself leads to complacency,” he said. “You have accomplished an incredible feat. But tomorrow, the challenges of our nation and our planet will still be there. What will you do with this education you worked so hard for? How will you build on it moving forward?”
Inspired by two of his fellow soldiers, who lost their lives in battle, Espino said he seeks to honor them daily by living his life to the fullest and challenges graduates to do the same.
“Whatever you choose to do after today, do it with passion,” he said. “Do it with purpose. Live a life of no regrets and make it meaningful.”