Graduation Speaker Cultivates Passion for Teaching at EKU

Coming from a large family, pursuing a career as a teacher felt like a natural fit for student Isabelle Orth. “My desire to teach may have come from my family, but my passion came from my time at EKU,” she said.

Orth addressed graduates at EKU’s 2022 fall commencement ceremony for the College of Justice, Safety and Military Science; College of Education and Applied Human Sciences; and College of Health Sciences on Saturday, Dec. 3. Orth graduated with a bachelor of science degree in child and family studies.

Now equipped with her degree, Orth plans to teach preschool in her hometown. Fitting with her career choice, she started her speech with a quote from the award-winning children’s book, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons: “I guess that simply goes to show that stuff will come, and stuff will go.” The stories of Pete the Cat, Orth said, “bring to life valuable lessons for children that I think we all can learn from.”  

“All of us have gone through different things that impacted our journey to this stage, but in the end, we were all like Pete and chose to keep walking, and now we get to hold our heads up high as we walk across the stage,” she continued. 
Orth showed appreciation for the professors, teachers, families and parents who encouraged the graduates throughout their educational journey. 

“As an aspiring teacher, I can speak for all of us in saying that there was some teacher somewhere down the road that helped inspire the person we are today,” she said. 

Concluding her speech, Orth said, “As our time at Eastern ends, I hope we can all think fondly of the Campus Beautiful. I hope that we remember where we came from and the people who helped us along the way.”

EKU recognized more than 1,200 degree candidates from its six academic colleges during the fall commencement ceremonies. 

Watch the ceremony in its entirety: EKU Fall 2022 Commencement-Afternoon Ceremony.

By Elise Russell