On December 11, 2016, another semester ended at Appalachian State University with two commencement ceremonies at the Holmes Convocation Center. Undergraduate and graduate students stood before family, friends, faculty and their classmates as they finished one chapter of their lives and began the next.

Listen as five Mountaineers share their experiences here at Appalachian, and watch as they transform from students to alumni.

Congratulations to the Class of 2016!

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

Transcript

Announcer: Please welcome the graduating class of 2016.

Jennifer Pilotos: Well my experience at Appalachian has been actually wonderful. We have professors who love what they do and it shows for sure.

Josh Mcintyre: The environment is pretty cool and awesome. I love the mountains. I love skiing. It’s just fun. I feel at home.

Christian Roseboro: Appalachian State provided me with an ability to have a self assurance in whatever situation I am in. To be able to go to any school that I work in in the future or any situation with very important people and be able to hold myself to a higher level with those people.

Emily Dinnsen: Well here at Appalachian I had the opportunity to work in different groups of people. Just learning how to work well with others. I have definitely learned to compromise with people I wouldn’t normally have worked with or gotten along with. So definitely it’s taught me patience. Appalachian has taught me humility and to just learn from other people.

Keevon Baten: My Appalachian experience has been life changing I guess I would say. I came in, a freshman, kind of lost. Then through the help of university staff and friends and teachers…awesome, amazing teachers I was able to find myself and I really feel very confident in who I am. I feel very prepared to go out into the workforce.

JM: Appalachian prepared me for the future by helping me become more professionally minded. Really it has gotten me prepared for the real world and I feel like I can communicate effectively which I think is one of the most important things.

JP: Appalachian has prepared me for the future because it has kind of given me the critical thinking skills that I really need. It gives me an advantage over other universities. Overall our university is just pretty wonderful.

CR: Oh I am hype. I’m hype.

CR: My name is Christian and I am a Mountaineer.

JP: My name is Jenny and I am a Mountaineer.

JM: My name is Josh and I am a Mountaineer.

ED: I’m Emily and I’m a Mountaineer.

KB: My name is Kevon and I am a Mountaineer.

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