{"id":96637,"date":"2023-02-27T13:40:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T19:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=96637"},"modified":"2023-03-06T16:57:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T22:57:47","slug":"convocation-have-the-courage-to-say-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/02\/27\/convocation-have-the-courage-to-say-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"Convocation: Have the courage to say ‘yes’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jane Meza, PhD, associate vice chancellor of global engagement, and professor of biostatistics, shared with degree candidates at the UNMC Graduate Studies winter honors convocation the wisdom of Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are full of complexities and wonders that haven’t even begun to surface,\u201d Dr. Meza told the degree candidates, quoting Spencer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of anything more liberating than that,\u201d Dr. Meza added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Meza delivered the keynote address at the Dec. 15, 2022, event at which the soon-to-be graduates were hooded by mentors in the time-honored academic tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eighteen master\u2019s degree candidates and 46 PhD degree candidates were honored at the ceremony, to mark August and December 2022 commencements.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Jane Meza, PhD, served as keynote speaker at the 2022 Winter Honors Convocation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, personally welcomed the degree candidates, their faculty advisors, and parents and other loved ones to the event. Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies, served as host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PhD candidate Rachel Kunkle gave the student-led invocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Meza urged the class of 2022 to allow themselves to follow paths that might veer from their pre-ordained career plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She drew from her own experiences in which she\u2019d carefully plotted out a path toward a career as a biostatistics faculty position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought there was no better job,\u201d Dr. Meza said. \u201cToday, that type of work seems completely foreign to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve realized I am not necessarily the introverted statistician I thought I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, she\u2019d somehow mustered the courage to say \u201cyes\u201d to an opportunity she\u2019d never imagined, as a temporary interim dean of the College of Public Health while it searched for a permanent leader. This turned out to be her most important career move, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me realize there were more options for me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt awakened skills I didn\u2019t know I had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She urged the degree candidates to have the courage to say \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDream your dreams,\u201d she said, \u201cand be flexible enough for them to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

bw PlTYC JKuNzsXeH Ozo AlxpE<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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