‘The Best Is Yet to Come’

‘The Greatest Is But to Come’

Ohio Wesleyan Welcomes Class of 2026, New Switch College students at Convocation Ceremony

By Cole Hatcher

DELAWARE, Ohio – The newest level on her path towards commencement led Ohio Wesleyan College scholar Sophie Gipson to Northeast Ohio, the place she accomplished a paid summer season internship serving to a nonprofit group with lead soil contamination and wholesome house initiatives.

A junior from Dayton, Ohio, Gipson spoke to Ohio Wesleyan’s Class of 2026 and new switch college students through the college’s Aug. 18 Convocation ceremony. The Dayton, Ohio, resident is also president of the Wesleyan Council on Scholar Affairs, OWU’s scholar authorities.

‘The Greatest Model of Myself’

“Not as soon as did I ever think about myself pursuing a double main in Politics & Authorities and Sociology & Anthropology, and I certainly by no means anticipated to change into the president of the coed physique talking right here in the present day,” Gipson stated. “And regardless that I didn’t plan for any of this to occur, I’m so grateful that it did.

“Whereas your involvement and objectives might change, and your path received’t keep linear, the system of help you might have right here at Ohio Wesleyan will all the time stay fixed,” Gipson informed OWU’s latest Bishops. “I can converse from expertise, as a few of my biggest and largest supporters sit on this area in the present day and have by no means stopped encouraging me to be the very best model of myself, even once I had no concept who she was going to be.”

‘An Completed and Fascinating Group’

Laurie Patton, director of admission, formally introduced the brand new class and shared details about the scholars to assist them get acquainted.

“Thirty-one years in the past, I sat the place you sit for my first day as a scholar at Ohio Wesleyan,” stated Patton, a member of the OWU Class of 1995. “And fogeys, I additionally understand how you are feeling. Twice now, I’ve sat the place you might be – on the sting of my seat looking for my very own kids within the sea of latest college students seated collectively, hoping to catch a glimpse of them to ensure they had been smiling and ‘becoming in’. And I can say from that have, college students and fogeys, you’ll be tremendous!

“Right here in entrance of me,” Patton continued, “is an completed and interesting group of younger adults, who’ve made it by means of a world pandemic, they usually’re prepared for an excellent new stage of their life! That can assist you get to know extra about these round you, I believed I’d share some details about you – our new switch college students and the members of the Class of 2026.”

Patton stated OWU’s new Bishops embrace college students who:

• Gained her faculty’s “Source of Power” award.
• Competed as a three-sport athlete and was named captain of all three.
• Co-founded a Fashionable Rocketry Membership.
• Volunteered at a refugee camp.
• Hosted a radio present on Radio India.
• Began a nonprofit referred to as “Tees for Toys.”
• Designs and sews bandanas for canine and sells them on Instagram and Etsy.
• Rides a unicycle.
• Performs on the Irish Nationwide Water Polo staff.
• Gained a Nationwide Inventive Writing Competitors.
• Accomplished an internship at NASA.
• Works as a cave information.
• Earned a gold medal in a nationwide under-19 2×400 swim relay.
• Spent two years in France at an immersive French Language and Worldwide Soccer Academy.
• Gained a global hackathon competitors.

‘Many Skills and Aspirations’

Patton additionally shared geographic, tutorial, and extracurricular details about OWU’s latest college students, together with:

• OWU’s Class of 2026 and new switch college students characterize 34 states and 16 international locations.
• 23% are first-generation faculty college students.
• 66 have not less than one member of the family who attended Ohio Wesleyan. (This 12 months’s class additionally contains one scholar who’s the third of three brothers to change into a Bishop and 4 of 5 siblings who’re quintuplets!)
• 15 are valedictorians.
• 69 are members of the Nationwide Honor Society.
• 15 have already got accomplished study-abroad or trade experiences.
• 132 took faculty programs whereas in highschool by means of twin enrollment or Faculty Credit score Plus.
• 237 participated in varsity sports activities, with 110 elected as staff captains and 37 incomes All-Star, All-State, or All-Area recognition.
• 61 had been concerned in theatre, with 10 taking part in a lead position or serving as a director.
• 116 had been concerned in a music group, with 40 collaborating in marching band.
• 17 served because the editor of their faculty newspaper or yearbook.
• 15 had been lively in Mannequin UN.
• 21 achieved the rank of Life or Eagle Scout or earned the Silver or Gold Woman Scout Award.
• 40 served as president of a highschool membership.
• 13 had been elected scholar physique or class president.

“You carry many abilities and aspirations to Ohio Wesleyan, and our neighborhood will likely be higher to your contributions,” Patton stated. “And the very best is but to come back.”

Shaping the World’s Future

Ohio Wesleyan President Rock Jones, Ph.D., additionally spoke to the incoming college students, welcoming them to a college dedicated to creating a optimistic distinction on the planet since 1842.

“What can we are saying besides ‘Wow?’” Jones informed the Class of 2026. “What an completed group and the way lucky we’re in the present day to have you ever be part of the Bishop household. …”

“100 and eighty years in the past lessons at Ohio Wesleyan convened for the primary time in Elliott Corridor,” he stated, “and our founders wrote within the constitution that an Ohio Wesleyan schooling was to be designed for the advantage of residents normally. That’s, an schooling at Ohio Wesleyan is to assist form the lives of our college students in order that they will form the lives and the way forward for our world.”

Provost Karlyn Crowley, Ph.D., additionally welcomed the group, sharing with them the historical past of Ohio Wesleyan’s motto, “In lumine tuo videbimus lumen.”

Translated, she stated, the Latin phrase means “In Your Gentle We Shall See the Gentle.”

“We’re calling on you,” Crowley stated, “to not simply be courageous sufficient to see the sunshine however be courageous sufficient to be it.”

Based in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan College is without doubt one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Situated in Delaware, Ohio, the non-public college gives greater than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports activities. Via its signature program, the OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches college students to combine information throughout disciplines, construct a various and world perspective, and apply information in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured within the guide “Schools That Change Lives” and included on the U.S. Information & World Report and Princeton Assessment “Greatest Schools” lists. Join with OWU professional interview sources at owu.edu/consultants or study extra at owu.edu.