Graduation filled with emotion and a couple of new degrees

Every University of North Georgia (UNG) graduate has a story to tell.

After overcoming several obstacles to get into and stay in college, Laura Vinson became the first student from the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen (REACH) Georgia scholarship program to earn her degree.

After studying multiple concentrations of music on UNG's Dahlonega Campus and student-teaching, Camden Pruitt was the first to receive UNG's new Bachelor of Music degree.

And Caroline Wible was among the 13 graduates accepting the first healthcare services and informatics administration degree.

These graduates were among the more than 1,100 who participated in the spring 2021 commencement ceremonies May 8-9 at the Convocation Center on UNG's Dahlonega Campus. The ceremonies resembled a mix of traditional elements and socially distant protocols. Additionally, some 54 cadets commissioned into military service in individual ceremonies held May 5-7.

Emotions were palpable during all 13 ceremonies over two days as families were escorted into a VIP box to watch their graduate walk across the stage to accept their diploma folder.

Vinson's sister was front and center to see her youngest sibling graduate. Vinson, who received her bachelor's degree in sociology, said her graduation is not her achievement alone. It is for her, her family, her supporters, and the REACH organization.

"It's so overwhelming. I have had so many people supporting me, and it's finally happened," said the 22-year-old from Clayton, Georgia. "We are achieving a long-standing goal that we have been trying to reach. I'm doing it for the REACH team and every REACH scholar who is behind me. I am showing them it is possible."

Pruitt knew a college education was possible, but thanks to the new Bachelor of Music degree, the 23-year-old from Woodstock, Georgia, is skilled in teaching music as well as performing. The new degree played a role in her acceptance into a graduate school program at North Dakota State University.

"They were excited to hear I was the first class graduating with the Bachelor of Music degree," Pruitt said. "It led them to wanting me in their program."

Many professional medical offices and hospitals are eagerly waiting for graduates of the healthcare informatics degree to enter the workforce.

"There is a huge need for these graduates because doctor's offices, clinics, medical schools, and hospitals need their own informatics specialists who can install and maintain the new health information management programs being developed regularly," said Amy Brown, administrative assistant with the Department of Interdisciplinary Healthcare. "With their degrees, our students can serve as health information managers and keep the clinical, operational and administrative departments connected."

Wible, who works part-time at a dentist office, said her employer has offered her a full-time position, which will allow her to help update the dental software system and ensure all data is saved and stored properly.

"This new degree of mine will let the professional medical workers such as doctors, nurses and dentists focus on the patients while I focus on the data," she said.