From Bartender to Graduating as a Knight Nurse: Kris Hysler,
38, was inspired by nurses caring for her dad in the ICU.
The University of Central Florida will hold summer commencement this weekend at Addition Financial Arena, conferring 3,863 degrees over three ceremonies on Friday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m., and on Saturday, Aug. 5 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Of those 3,863 degrees:
- 827 are in STEM fields
- 377 are from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Optics and Photonics
- 288 are from the College of Nursing
- 710 are awarded to first-generation students
- 1,535 are awarded to students eligible for federal Pell grants, demonstrating the university’s impact on social mobility
The graduates will leave UCF ready to unleash their potential by advancing their careers in critical industries throughout Central Florida and the state, fueling economic growth and developing the innovations and creative works that propel broad-based prosperity for our region and state.
The following commencement speakers will address graduates:
- Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of Florida’s State University System, at 6 p.m. Friday
- John Rivers, founder and CEO of the 4 Rivers Smokehouse enterprise, at 10 a.m. Saturday.
- Grace Bochenek, director of UCF’s School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training, at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Following this weekend’s ceremonies, UCF will have conferred more than 419,000 degrees since classes began in 1968. That includes nearly 83,000 in STEM fields; more than 51,000 in engineering, computer science and optics; and more than 49,000 in health professions, including nursing, among others.
Among the graduates walking across the stage will be Kris Hysler, 38, who lost most of her hearing in her 20s, worked as a bartender in Chicago and New York, and returned to Central Florida in her mid-30s to care for her father.
While helping her father in the ICU, nurses tried talking Hysler into going to nursing school. “My response was, ‘who would want a 35-year-old who is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids?’”
The national Helene Fuld Health Trust scholar will graduate during the Saturday afternoon ceremony after finishing the accelerated second degree bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) cohort — a program that fast-tracks career changers to a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 15 months. She then will begin the RN transition-to-practice residency at the Orlando VA, where her dad receives a lot of his care. Read more about Hysler’s journey here.
