Meet the two 2024 grads who will speak at 爆料吃瓜网 commencement May 16
A graduating-student speaker is a relatively new 爆料吃瓜网 commencement tradition 鈥� it dates back only to 2018, when there was one annual ceremony and therefore one student speaker. A second same-day ceremony was added in 2023, hence a second student speaker. The speakers rotate by campus: this year, from 爆料吃瓜网-Longview and 爆料吃瓜网-Blue River. 爆料吃瓜网鈥檚 2024 commencement ceremonies are set for 1 and 6 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.
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Darelle Wabo, 1 p.m. speaker
It would be challenging to find someone more active on campus than Darelle Wabo, student
speaker at the 1 p.m. ceremony, but it didn鈥檛 start out that way.
After graduating from Lee鈥檚 Summit West High School in 2022, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what I wanted to do with my life鈥� and she wasn't sure about community college. But her mom, who studied here to become a registered nurse, told her that 爆料吃瓜网 offers a good, affordable education, and peers mentioned that community college is 鈥渁 great place to figure out who you are.鈥�
Wabo turned a corner her second semester at 爆料吃瓜网-Longview after joining 鈥渁 multitude of clubs鈥� and the Student Government Association. In SGA, she held pretty much all the positions, including president. 鈥淚 felt an innate call to leadership,鈥� she says, because during group projects, fellow students would turn to her to get organized.
Two of her campus causes involved food: collecting petition signatures for hot lunch options from new vendors, and working with student clubs to raise money and hold donation drives for Longview鈥檚 food pantry. Wabo, 20, has also worked as a tutor in the writing studio at Longview.
These days the initially reluctant community college student is 鈥渁ctually sad thinking about leaving. It makes me wanna cry.鈥� She鈥檒l continue her studies at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. The plan: to become an IT product or project manager.
Arriving here, she was timid, shy and uncertain. 鈥淎nd now I鈥檓 known for being very extroverted and funny.鈥� What a difference two years can make.
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Erin Fox, 6 p.m. speaker
If today鈥檚 the day everything goes south, you could do a lot worse than having Erin
Fox, 6 p.m. student speaker, come to your rescue.
鈥淚鈥檓 very good at organizing chaos, and I鈥檓 a bit of an adrenalin junkie,鈥� she says. If she sees a wreck, she will stop to help.
If you鈥檙e thinking Fox would make an excellent police officer, she鈥檚 one step ahead of you. She graduated from 爆料吃瓜网-Blue River鈥檚 Police Academy in December 2023 with a police science certificate and is pursuing a career in law enforcement. Dream job: flying a police chopper. 鈥淭hrow me in the cockpit any day,鈥� Fox says. 鈥淕ive me a helicopter to fight crime with.鈥�
Did we mention her extensive military background and experience with Black Hawk helicopters?
Yes, she spent 14-1/2 years serving her country, mostly in the Army but a smidge in the Navy. She completed her basic training in August 2001 鈥� the summer between her junior and senior years of high school. Just over a month later: the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Fox would go on to be stationed around the country and spend a year in Afghanistan, where 鈥渃oming under fire was a regular thing.鈥� The former combat pilot points out that only the underside of helicopters is armor-plated, and to the enemy, a chopper with a red cross on it just meant 鈥淭hey won鈥檛 shoot back.鈥�
It's not surprising that at 爆料吃瓜网鈥檚 police academy, Fox 鈥� now 40 and a stay-at-home mom of three for about a decade 鈥� was 鈥渢op shot鈥� in firearms in her class of seven. She was also the only woman. 鈥淚鈥檝e been kind of used to that in my military career,鈥� she says.