It was a long road to graduation for Arnelle Stinfil.
Stinfil, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Thursday grew up in Naples, Florida, and had her first child at 16. She then moved to Fort Lauderdale to attend Florida Atlantic University and finished her first college degree in just three years in health science. She immediately started working as a certified nursing assistant and as a medical adjuster. Then, she also had a second daughter.
A year ago, Stinfil started the accelerated nursing program at the School of Nursing and Health Studies and graduated in front of family members who flocked in from New York City, Philadelphia, Naples, and Fort Lauderdale to celebrate.
She was one of more than 1,000 students at the University of Miami who earned their degrees in two fall commencement ceremonies Thursday.
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In earning her nursing degree, Stinfil is following a family tradition—her mom, sister, and aunt are all nurses—and they were all there to celebrate her success.
“I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in the medical field, but for a while I wasn’t sure which path to follow until I decided on nursing,” she said. “Right now, I feel great, and I am ready to take the NCLEX exam and become a nurse.”
After taking the exam in February, Stinfil wants to apply to a graduate nursing program to become a nurse practitioner or work in family medicine.
Meanwhile, Heather West, who earned her degree in marine affairs, was celebrating with her mother, family friend, and boyfriend, junior George Campbell, outside the Watsco Center. West moved to Coral Gables from northern Georgia and graduated in just over two years thanks to earning many college credits in high school.
West is excited to continue her education at the University, as she will be entering the School of Law in the fall. She said her decision to come to the University was one of the best choices she has made.
“I’ve always loved the ocean, so that helped me choose the Rosenstiel School, and I realized I love living in a warm climate,” she said. “I also love the energy and atmosphere at UM and in Miami, so I don’t think I’ll ever move back to Georgia.”
Also graduating from the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science was Stevie Andreu, who was celebrating with his family outside the center. Andreu transferred from Wayne State University to earn his bachelor’s in marine science and chemistry at the morning ceremony.
“Today is exciting and bittersweet,” he said. “Exciting because I can move on to the next chapter of my life, but bitter because I’ll be leaving the University.”
He applied for a U.S. Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Spain, but if that doesn’t work out, Andreu will start looking for a job in environmental policy, potentially outside of the U.S. since he likes to travel and hopes to impact developing countries.
At the afternoon ceremony, about 470 students earned their degrees. Among them was Marcus Batista, who received a master’s degree in chemical, environmental, and materials engineering.
Batista moved to Miami from Salvador, Brazil, for the program and is soon heading to Orlando, where he will be working as an environmental engineer and analyzing air quality in the central Florida region. Batista said the education he received from the College of Engineering in aerosol sciences exceeded his expectations.
“This is an exciting place to study with a very impressive community of aerosols and air quality researchers,” he said. “It was a very good community to be a part of, so I am leaving very confident in my knowledge of air quality sciences.”
Lyonel Jean-Felix, who earned his Master of Business Administration from the Miami Herbert Business School, was also excited to utilize the skills he has learned from the program in his role as a consultant for LBL Financial.
A St. Petersburg, Florida, native, Jean-Felix had always wanted to attend the University because of its strong athletic reputation but said he really enjoyed all the expertise he received as a business graduate student.
“It’s been a really great experience for me, and hopefully this will help me progress vertically in my career,” he said. “But regardless, l like learning, so I was able to pick up new knowledge in my field.”
