小蝌蚪APP

South Celebrates Spring and Summer Graduates

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Posted on May 6, 2023

Thomas Becnel

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Commencement speakers challenged 小蝌蚪APP graduates to embrace their education, solve problems and remain persistent.

Nearly 2,100 spring and summer graduates receiving bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees were recognized during Friday and Saturday ceremonies at the USA Mitchell Center.  

Lonnie Johnson, the Friday speaker, is a native of Mobile who became a NASA engineer and entrepreneur best known as the inventor of the Super Soaker water toy. He warned that people must always be wise enough to control the great power of modern technology.

鈥淒on鈥檛 burn or hide your books,鈥� Johnson told graduates. 鈥淚f you do, your computers are going to know more than you. The human brain is the ultimate tool. Everyone has one. What you do with it is up to you.鈥�

Kane Wommack, the Saturday speaker, is head coach of the South football team, which excited fans with a 10-3 season and trip to a bowl game last year. He told graduates that perspective and perseverance will help them succeed.

鈥淛ust work, just go to work,鈥� Wommack said. 鈥淵ou will rarely be 100 percent in life. That鈥檚 the truth. Just work. Perseverance with relentless detail and consistency will wear adversity down. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship. That is a different perspective.鈥�

President Jo Bonner thanked South graduates and their families for helping the University celebrate its 60th Anniversary.

Earlier Friday, he announced that South supporter Abraham 鈥淎be鈥� Mitchell had pledged $20 million for a new performing arts center on campus. He told medical graduates that next year construction will begin on a new building for the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine.

鈥淣ow, I know a lot of you are thinking, 鈥榃hy didn鈥檛 I get to go to medical school in that new building?鈥欌�� Bonner joked. 鈥淲ell, you鈥檒l all get a chance to donate to it, so look at it that way.鈥�

The president offered congratulations to all of the 2023 graduates.

鈥淚t鈥檚 OK to hold your head a little higher and walk with a little more confidence,鈥� Bonner said. 鈥淭his is a really big day in your life, and in the life of your University.鈥�

Hundreds of South graduates took pictures with their families at the Moulton Bell Tower and the statue of SouthPaw, the school mascot. Many students decorated their graduation caps with personalized messages.

鈥淣urse Emily.鈥� 鈥淥ne Degree Hotter.鈥� 鈥淕otta Go My Own Way.鈥�

Megan Grace-Haynes, who pursued a master鈥檚 degree in nursing, wore a cap that said, 鈥淚 almost gave up, but I remembered who was watching,鈥� with a photo of her grandfather, Caleb Grace.

鈥淏efore he passed, he would always ask me, 鈥楪race, when are you going to get your master鈥檚 degree?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淗e was a math professor at Meridian Community College.  He was military, retired from the Air Force National Guard. And he helped me keep going to get my degree.鈥�

Srotter Pakhamma wore a Laotian ceremonial sash atop his graduation robe. He鈥檚 a first-generation college student from an immigrant family who studied mechanical engineering.

After an internship at a chemical plant, Pakhamma has accepted a job with Airbus in Mobile. He鈥檒l be working on the final assembly line as a process performance engineer.

鈥淚 wanted to work hands-on,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 do a full-time desk job, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�

Micah Cook plans to stay in Mobile and teach or work for an engineering firm. The Gulf Coast has been an important part of his graduate education in marine science.

鈥淚 enjoyed working out at Dauphin Island Sea Lab,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淚 enjoyed the field work and getting out on the water. It鈥檚 been a fun ride.鈥�

On Friday, Johnson started his commencement speech with an engineering joke that drew laughs from the audience.

A doctor, lawyer and engineer are facing the guillotine. When the doctor is about to be executed, the machine jams and the blade stops just short his neck. He is spared. The lawyer goes up, the blade again stops, and he too is spared. Then it鈥檚 the engineer鈥檚 turn.

鈥淗ey, wait a minute,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think I can fix this thing.鈥�

Johnson told graduates that, in an ever-changing technological world, it鈥檚 important for people to stick together. 

鈥淒on鈥檛 leave anyone behind,鈥� he said. 鈥淪traight people, gay people. Black people, white people. Skinny, fat, tall. We come in all shapes and sizes. God made everybody.鈥� 

Johnson holds more than 140 patents, and he talked about the incredible advances in technology that drive automation and artificial intelligence. Those things will require people to be flexible, adaptable and willing to change. He鈥檚 optimistic about the years to come.

鈥淗umans are built to move forward,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e problem solvers. We鈥檙e fixers of things. I wish I were younger. I wish I could experience this future with you.鈥�

Wommack also joked with the class of 2023. He told them that he approached his Commencement speech with the same urgency and fervor they once brought to term papers and final exams.

鈥淪o late last night I began,鈥� he said, as everyone laughed. 鈥淢y quest started with a Google search and a 5-hour Energy shot. Washed down with a few Red Bulls, then I distracted myself on Instagram for two hours. Like many of you, I found my greatest nuggets of wisdom on YouTube and Wikipedia.鈥�

Wommack encouraged graduates to respond to challenges with a growth mindset, rather than a fixed one. 

鈥淧erspective gives you the ability to reshape your mind in the midst of adversity to accomplish the task at hand, but perspective will only get you halfway to accomplishing your goals,鈥� he said. 鈥淧erseverance will give you the ability to see the work through no matter what the obstacle.鈥�

 鈥淜eep your J鈥檚 up,鈥� he closed, 鈥渂ecause here in Mobile and the University of South Alabama, we鈥檙e so very proud of you,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait to see what you鈥檒l do next. Congratulations, graduates, and go Jags!鈥�

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View Commencement photos on and .

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