“If you can make it at South Carolina State University, you can make it anywhere in life. I feel more than prepared by South Carolina State University.
“Outside of the curriculum, the instructors have instilled in us so much knowledge and so much enthusiasm to go and make change in the world and go and be good people. Their truly wanting to propel us and launch us to the next step has been amazing,” she said.
“Teaching is not simply a career, it’s a calling,” said Dr. Frederick Evans, provost and vice president of academic affairs at SC State.
“Embrace collaboration and never lose sight of the profound difference you can make in a student’s life,” he said.
Leaders emphasize impact of the profession
Keynote speaker Dr. Shawn Foster, superintendent of the Orangeburg County School District, said he knew that SC State had prepared the inductees to do great things.
Part of his advice to them was to remember to master their internal influences because that would be a representation of their external impact.
The superintendent also encouraged the inductees
to remember their purpose, which included working to make a lasting impact on the lives of children, who will hopefully be able to reflect on the positive difference it made in their lives.
“Your purpose will determine your impact,” Foster said, noting that teachers are “capable of doing anything with nothing.”
He also referenced the following quote from American author and poet Albert Pike: “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
“I thought about the things that I could do for others. We’re the one profession that we have the opportunity for immortality,” Foster said.
SC State’s teacher education programs are offered through the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Dr. M. Evelyn Fields, dean of the college, said the nine students had reached a milestone in their collegiate careers with their induction into the teaching profession.
“You didn’t quit. You stayed the course and look at what you’ve accomplished,” said Fields, who administered the Educator’s Oath to the seniors.
Dr. Janice B. Owens, professor and director of the clinical experience program, presided at the induction. Dr. George Johnson, chairman of the SC State Department of Education, also offered words of encouragement, telling the seniors how important their impact as teachers could be.
“The future is sitting in your classroom,” Johnson said.
The newly inducted educators will be among approximately 380 students who receive degrees on Friday at Spring Commencement, which will begin at 10 a.m. in Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, where seating will be limited to ticket holders.
For more information about SC State’s teacher education programs and other fields of study, visit https:// scsu.edu/academics
