Terrier Volume 81, Number 1 | Page 8

2017 Spring Commencement

It was the perfect day for an outdoor graduation at Brooklyn Bridge Park , as almost 400 St . Francis College students and thousands of friends and family celebrated the College ’ s Spring 2017 Commencement on May 24 .

This is the third year St . Francis held its graduation on the water , taking advantage of a beautiful Brooklyn Bridge and downtown Manhattan backdrop to frame the ceremony .

Undergraduate Valedictorian Arber Sejdiu ’ 17 , a Psychology Major and member of the College ’ s Pre-Health Professions Program said , “ Our class of 2017 consists of some of the smartest and most creative minds , and some of the hardest working and kindest souls that I have ever met in my life .”
An Albanian-American whose family comes from Kosovo and now lives on Staten Island , Arber was a member of the Duns Scotus honor
Valedictorians Arber Sejdiu ’ 17 and Sandra Raickovic ’ 17 with Interim President Timothy Houlihan at The River Café before the commencement ceremony .
society , Treasurer of Psi Chi Honor Society chapter and the Psychology club , President of the English Club , and the Editor-in-Chief of The Montage — a student run literary magazine . He also interned with the American Red Cross . He hopes to bridge the fields of psychiatry and medicine by going to medical school and doing dual residencies to become both a psychiatrist and neurologist .
The Valedictorian for Graduate Programs , Sandra Raickovic ’ 17 , earned a Bachelor ’ s and Master ’ s Degree in Accounting . Raickovic worked for three years as a Corporate Tax intern at JP Morgan Chase and is now working in the auditing division at Deloitte . A native of Belgrade , Serbia , Raickovic was attracted to St . Francis College by academics and athletics , a combination that earned her a full scholarship . A former world class athlete , Sandra competed on the College ’ s Track and Field team in the Triple Jump and Long Jump for four years . Before coming to St . Francis she competed internationally as a professional , representing Serbia as a Finalist at the first Youth
Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010 among other world competitions . The graduates were also welcomed into the ranks of the alumni by Sarah M . Bratton Hughes ’ 07 who has now completed her term as President of the Alumni Board of Directors . ●
Spring Commencement Ceremony — https :// youtu . be / qCtK7nz1Z1g Meet the Graduates — https :// youtu . be / 7P _ jA1skj5E
In place of a standard commencement address , Pulitzer Prize winning poet Tracy K . Smith read her commissioned poem , Garden of Eden , a poem she hoped would prompt the graduates to reflect on this time in their life . Shortly after the ceremony Smith was named the 22nd U . S . Poet Laureate .
Some of the Class of 2017 , Spring Commencement .
Education majors share their teaching pride on their graduation caps .
6 ST . FRANCIS COLLEGE TERRIER | FALL 2017 | VOLUME 81 , NUMBER 1