Befitting her strong faith, Katelyn Cornelius was selected to deliver the invocation Saturday.
“ My faith has always been a big part of my life,” said Cornelius, who completed her clinical education at the Orlando Regional Campus, near her hometown of Winter Park.“ Before I started medical school, I got to work at a clinic for patients without insurance that’ s faith-based in Orlando. I really saw how these people’ s desire to serve was so driven by their faith. And I worked with a pediatrician who used to talk about how, you know, we’ re called to be loving in anything that we do.
“ So, from the start of medical school, I thought a lot about that as a focus – how can I be loving and joyful in all the things that I do?”
Cornelius carried that mindset throughout her time at the College of Medicine and others noticed. At the awards ceremony, the Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor Society inductee was recognized as the Orlando Regional Campus Dean’ s Award winner. She was also one of eight American Medical Women’ s Association’ s Glasgow-Rubin Citation recipients for ranking in the top 10 % of her class and demonstrating leadership, service and advocacy.
College of Medicine Dean Dr. Alma Littles presented Cornelius the J. Ocie Harris Outstanding Student Award to close Friday’ s awards ceremony. The award recognizes the student who has shown the best all-around promise of becoming a physician of the highest caliber.
“ People ask me,‘ Why are you like this? Why are you so nice and kind and focused? Why do you know this information?’” Cornelius explained.“ For me, it is loving and caring, and that feels like my mission and my ministry to others; to learn this information well, to care for people well, to help them feel seen and heard and loved at the end of the day.”
Bridge graduate Shaun Franklin, who has already earned praise from faculty for his compassionate clinical care skills, was locked in throughout Speights’ commencement address.
“ I’ m excited about today, but more excited to get started with the M. D. class,” said Franklin, who began his four-year journey on May 26.“[ Bridge ] was a great experience. We’ re all pretty close; we just have each other. We’ re a tight-knit family here and I think that made a difference.”
While Franklin and his M. D. classmates won’ t benefit from future lectures delivered by Speights, his last likely left a lasting impact.
FALL 2026 | FSUMED 13