April 30, 2003

911 dispatcher, mother of two
selected as 2003 commencement speaker

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — When Sheri Roach returned to ISU at 40 for a teaching certificate, little did she know she would be the featured speaker at graduation this May.

“I was flattered to be chosen as the speaker because I am an older student that returned to school,” said Roach, who has worked as a night shift 911 dispatcher in Putnam County for more than 10 years. She has been married 22 years to her husband Tom and has two sons, Adam, 19 and Alex, 15.

When Roach was looking into returning to school, she chose ISU over other universities.

“I visited ISU to see what was here and I was very impressed by how personable the professors and staff were,” Roach said. “I liked the small classes here and the commute was a bit shorter and easier.”

Roach credits her professors at ISU for her success as a student.

“I can’t say enough good things about the instructors I’ve had at ISU.”

Roach plans to speak about how even though her graduating class has many differences, her classmates have many similarities based on their experiences at ISU. She will tell them that although graduation is often seen as an ending, it is also a beginning.

“I thought it was important to see ourselves as part of this ISU community and recognize how that has made an impact on our lives,” Roach explained.

Roach saw ads about a speaker being sought and decided to take a chance. Several professors were willing to recommend her so she submitted an outline of her speech and background information about herself. After her outline was one of seven chosen, she had to write the complete address and present it before a panel of judges.

Professor of English Robert Perrin helped her hone her speech. Roach has never spoken to a group as large as will attend commencement.

She was on the Greencastle City Council for four years and as a local politician had occasions where she spoke to groups.

Roach acknowledges feeling nervous about her speech. “But we have rehearsal and I'm going to work with Dr. Perrin and some other professors to try to become as comfortable with the speech as possible,” she said.

Roach graduated from the University of Indianapolis in 1981 and also attended classes at DePauw and IUPUI.

After her first semester at ISU, she changed her major to English, largely because she enjoyed the atmosphere in the English department.

“I felt so comfortable there,” she said. “I’ve always been addicted to reading and writing.”

She will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in English and English education and minors in creative writing and women's studies.

She has applied to attend graduate school at ISU next year. When she graduated from college the first time, a recession then had also made teaching jobs scarce. Now, because she has come to like ISU so much, she wants to continue studying there.

“Right now many schools have to lay off teachers for budgetary reasons, but the student population is growing,” Roach said. “I’m hopeful that in a year or two, once the economy stabilizes a bit, there will be a need to hire teachers and I want to be as prepared as possible.”

Regarding her speech itself, Roach said, “The time allotted for the speech is really short — 5 minutes — but I've tried to include things that all students can relate to.

“I've really enjoyed my time at ISU, and I'm very appreciative of this opportunity to give the commencement address.”

NOTE:  Besty Rusk is a journalism student at Indiana State University. Adriane Shaw is an intern in ISU's Office of Public Affairs.

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Contact:
Jan Arnett, special assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs,
(812) 237-3849 or janarnett@indstate.edu

Writer:
Adriane Shaw, public affairs intern, (812) 237-3773 or ashaw3@mymail.indstate.edu or Betsy Rusk, ISU journalism student.

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu