Family matters: Spring graduates included siblings, spouses, children who pursued degrees with their parents

Family matters: Spring graduates included siblings, spouses, children who pursued degrees with their parents

Anyone connected with Northwest Missouri State University understands the broad roots of the Bearcat family, but for a group of graduates this spring, that sentiment was especially true.

When Northwest celebrated its spring graduates during commencement ceremonies May 1-2, it conferred degrees to at least 11 combinations of family members - from siblings to spouses to children who were graduating with parents.

The weight of the moment and the special opportunity hit Sydney Bentz as she stood with her mother, Tiffany, in preparation for Friday afternoon's commencement ceremony. Sydney received a bachelor's degree in agricultural media, and Tiffany received a Master of Science in Nursing with a nurse educator emphasis.

"I'm just happy that you're here with me," Sydney said to her mother as tears of gratitude filled her eyes. "Not many people get to do that. So it's really fun to be like, "My mom is walking with me." It's really special, like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Though Sydney's father is a Northwest alumnus and nudged her to attend the University, she carved her own path and experiences. She was active on campus as president of the Sigma Alpha agriculture sorority and as an agriculture ambassador, and she worked as a communication assistant in the Office of University Marketing and Communication. During Friday afternoon's commencement ceremony, she represented the School of Agricultural Sciences as its honorary banner carrier.

"It was meant to be," said Sydney, whose family resides in Burlington, Iowa. "Everything fell into place. There were some struggles, but I was meant to be here. … I made tons of connections, and everyone's just been super supportive and super friendly."

A pediatric nurse, Tiffany wanted to pursue an advanced degree and has an interest in teaching. She enrolled at Northwest, knowing her husband was an alumnus and because she saw how much Sydney was enjoying her undergraduate experience.

"I wouldn't have done it if she hadn't talked me into doing this," Tiffany said.

Twin brothers Bret and Jack Beard, of Olathe, Kansas, graduated with their bachelor's degrees in marketing and were members of the Bearcat track and field team. They will continue their education together at Northwest in pursuit of Master of Business Administration degrees.

"It's kind of how it's always been our whole lives - just together," Jack said, referring to his brother as a study buddy as well as a training partner. "We took the same classes. We hold each other accountable."

Similarly, Tytiana Gates Taylor graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and her twin brother, Tyrik Gates, graduated with his bachelor's degree in criminology.

The Gates said they, too, leaned on each other for support during the late nights of studying and when the work seemed daunting.

"We started together, we ended up together, so that makes me so happy," Tyrik said, adding that he encouraged Tytiana to join him at Northwest after he was admitted. "I could never do it by myself."

Said Tytiana, "I feel like it taught both of us a lot about ourselves. We met amazing people here, and we just grew closer with each other, too. So it's been a great experience overall."

For Cody Iwig, who completed a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in social studies with a history emphasis, the journey to his graduation day at Northwest included his older brother, Noah, who is an alumnus of Northwest and returned to earn a master's degree in educational leadership with a K-12 emphasis.

Cody chose to pursue his bachelor's degree at Northwest, wanting to follow Noah's path to becoming a teacher. He will start his career next fall as a world geography teacher in the Dallas Center-Grimes School District in Iowa.

"It's been very enjoyable," Cody said. "I learned a lot, got a lot of life lessons and feel really prepared for the classroom."

As an elementary teacher in the Waukee Community School District in Iowa, Noah enjoyed comparing his professional experiences with the lessons Cody was learning in his coursework and practicum experiences.

"It was nice that we could actually collaborate," Noah said. "He's like, 'Hey, I have students that are low academically. What would you do?' I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, let's talk about that.' The whole career readiness, day one (at Northwest) is legit and real, and we've seen it in our household."

The Bearcat family connections extended to the platform parties of the commencement ceremonies, too.

On Friday morning, Dr. Nissa Ingraham, the chair of Northwest's School of Education, received the honor of carrying the University's ceremonial mace and watched her sons, Duke and Wyatt, graduate with their bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and cybersecurity, respectively.

The weekend's commencement speaker, Dr. Matt Baker, a longtime Northwest staff member who recently assumed the presidency at Emporia State University, along with his wife, Jill, a faculty member in the School of Education, saw their daughter, Avery, receive her bachelor's degree in applied health science with a sports medicine emphasis during Saturday morning's ceremony.

Elsewhere, in Pacific, Missouri, Allison Daves completed her specialist degree in educational leadership with a K-12 emphasis alongside her father, Gary. As educators with interests in becoming school administrators, the Daveses pursued their specialist degrees at Northwest on the recommendations of colleagues.

"It gave me some really good knowledge," Gary said, adding that completing the degree with Allison helped motivate him, too. "It gave me a different perspective on what an admin has to go through on a daily basis."

Spouses Amy and Casey Mulvihill, who reside in Bend, Oregon, also completed their educational leadership degrees together through Northwest Online.

The couple is employed with a charter school system in Oregon - Amy as a social studies teacher and Casey in technology administration - and have aspirations of advancing to director or principal roles.

They enrolled at Northwest after a friend of Amy completed the program.

"She had really enjoyed it, and it was the affordability, and the flexibility was really appealing to us," Amy said. "We'd been thinking about going for something more for a while. … The stars aligned and as soon as she told me about this, I was like, 'We should probably do this next term.'"

With 4-year-old and 6-year-old children, the Mulvihills balanced their evening homework sessions between birthday parties, swimming lessons and other activities that parents who have experienced that stage of life know well. Amy took care of posting course schedules and breaks on their shared calendar.

"I even told Amy this - I was like, 'It's something I value, and I want to do, but because of the time in our life, I don't know if I have the wherewithal to do this alone,'" Casey said. "I was like, 'If I know you're in it, we can be there as a rock for each other when it gets a little bit rough. I think the likelihood's a lot higher that we'll get it done.' So we both just decided we would lean on each other, and that really helped."

Casey added, "There's definitely some Wednesday nights when she was like, 'Did you get your homework done?' It's just nice to have that other person who's also accountable that helps remind you. We definitely reminded each other quite a bit just to stay on task."

On their own journey to joining the Northwest family, the Mulvihills also discovered personal connections to the University and just how widespread its reach is.

When Amy, whose family hails from the Midwest, mentioned to her father that she was enrolled at Northwest, he recalled an ancestor who earned a teaching degree from the college. And when Casey shared a photo in a group chat with friends that showed his computer screen with a Northwest logo, one of those friends excitedly responded that he had earned a degree from the University also.

"There's little connections everywhere," Casey said.