A 19-year-old Temple Terrace woman in a hurry to become a doctor highlighted a class of recent University of South Florida students who earned their degrees in Tampa earlier this month.
Siham Wazzan joined a 67-year-old marine science teacher seeking to become a better educator, a 25-year-old survivor of a traumatic brain injury, and an indefatigable mother of two who never stops reinventing herself as part of the fall session graduates.
Wazzan set her sights early on becoming a doctor. To achieve that goal, this youngest USF graduate dual-enrolled in college courses while attending the Bayaan Academy in Temple Terrace.
As a result, she entered USF as a sophomore with 39 credits already on her transcript. Now she is focused on graduating from USF’s Morsani College of Medicine to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.
She says her family is “proud of my accomplishments but what matters most is that they’re proud of the person I’m becoming.”
Wazzan says “being a doctor offers the chance to build a meaningful, human connection during some of the most difficult moments of a person’s life,” recalling seeing that interaction firsthand when volunteering with her father, a neurologist.
Self-motivatation seems to come naturally to her.
“It’s what pushed me to look for opportunities,” she said. “I try to be intentional and contribute in meaningful ways. I’m always thinking about the impact of what I am doing and how I can improve it.”
Michael Mitchell at 67 is the oldest USF student in this graduating class, earning a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction and is similarly self-motivated.
This is not the first time Mitchell studied at USF. More than three decades ago, he earned his master’s degree in marine science at USF and went on to teach marine science and biology to high school students.
Mitchell says he hopes his new education degree from USF will help him become an even better teacher and educator.
Cole Hill, a member of the first graduating class at USF’s Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, already had a job even before accepting his doctoral degree in computer science and soon will be working on AI applications at Meta in California.
While studying at USF, Hill initially earned a degree in electrical engineering and mathematics, then shifted to computer science and artificial intelligence.
Hill’s research focused on motion analysis that can be utilized in computer and robotic applications affecting public safety and defense systems. He also interned with the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Security Agency.
According to Hill, “USF gave me the opportunity to work alongside world-class researchers who genuinely want students to succeed” and “set the stage for everything that is coming next.”
What is coming next for Michael Murren, 25, is an adventure working for one of the world’s largest professional services companies. That adventure follows years of difficult recovery from a 2018 car accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury and aphasia that made it difficult to communicate but determined to prove doctors wrong who said he might never be able to live independently.
“Believe in yourself” became his motto and mantra. After a lot of hard work and dedication to mental exercises designed to overcome his aphasia, he has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a new life in New York City.
Then there is Passionate Jacobs, 36, to whom the words “determination,” “self-motivation,” and “belief” are just “another day at the office”.
Start with the fact that she left school at the age of 15 to support her newborn son, later to be joined by a daughter. She didn’t stop there.
Over the next 15 years, she enlisted in the national Job Corps where she earned her GED and certification in medical office technology and worked at the NYU Clinical Cancer Center and at the Brooklyn Health-Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center.
Her journey wasn’t over, however.
She next joined the New York and Florida national guards where she served for 12 years as a welder and machinist.
But she had one more step to take. Jacobs says her parents and most of her siblings went to college, and it was always her goal to get a degree as well — it just took a little longer for her.
First, she earned an associate degree in criminal justice in New York and studied to become a plumber apprentice.
Eventually moving to Florida, she rejoined the National Guard, became a certified insurance and coding specialist, and somehow managed to author a children’s book, “Fun Times with Serenity and Tee: YouTube is Life”, a story about a 6-year-old girl who lives with her mother and brother in New York City and who loves to spend her time watching YouTube videos.
In 2023, Jacobs enrolled at USF where, not content to just study, she also created YouTube content for the university’s communications and marketing department.
“(This diploma) goes to show that I can accomplish everything I put my mind to,” Jacobs told USF officials, adding, “Only you can make the life you want.”
This semester’s graduates included 47 undergraduates earning a “perfect” 4.0 grade point average, 137 military veterans, and students representing 43 states, one U.S. territory and 79 different countries, according to USF officials.
The Dec. 12 and 13 commencements for more than 4,100 USF students also marked the final ceremonies led by retiring USF President Rhea Law, a USF graduate herself.
Moez Limayem, president at the University of North Florida, was named by the Florida Board of Governors as her successor. Limayem previously served as dean of USF’s Muma College of Business, raising $25 million in donations for the program. He will be paid a $1.25 million base salary plus incentives.