Henderson resident Dwaynna Ramsay not only earned her master's degree in education technology and instructional design from accredited online Western Governors University, she was also selected to give remarks at WGU's regional commencement November 15 at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia. More than 2,500 graduates from 35 states participated in morning and afternoon commencement ceremonies.
Ramsay addressed the commencement for WGU's School of Education and School of Health. She began by holding up a $100 bill, crumpling it, and stepping on it. Her message was that whatever you did to the bill, it still retained its value and that is true of people as well. "You’ll get crushed, stepped on, and dirtied by circumstances, but your worth remains the same," she said.
Ramsay discussed growing up in Jamaica, how her husband encouraged her to get her degree, how she started as a substitute teacher at Vance County Middle School, and how her faith sustained her in difficult times. She enrolled in a master's degree program not knowing how she'd pay for it, but then miraculously she discovered she won a WGU Loves Teachers Scholarship. She ended her address by telling the attendees life isn't just for them, but it's also for the people watching you and learning from you.
Western Governors University, the nation’s leading nonprofit, online university, is transforming higher education to be more student-centric, affordable, accessible to all, and relevant to the workforce. WGU has more than 10,000 graduates across all 100 counties in North Carolina.
