Leslie McAhren, her short, stylish, blonde hair peeking out beneath a black mortarboard, walks to the podium. The audience applauds. She arranges her notes and exhales a loud "Wooo!" tossing her head and smiling widely-no doubt to clear her mind and blow off a little nervous energy. A few audience members chuckle. A Master of Fine Arts grad, McAhren is the selected student speaker at Carnegie Mellon's 113th commencement ceremony in Pittsburgh.
During her graduate studies, she focused on filmmaking and photography as well as some business courses in the Tepper School. She created 11 artists' books, for which the University Libraries honored her by selecting them for the art collection, and she also co-founded and funded a summer travel fellowship for art students.
At the podium, she speaks about lifelong ascent-exhorting the graduates, including herself, to continue to learn throughout their lives, now that their college years have drawn to a close.
McAhren was one of more than 3,600 students who earned their undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees during the university's 2009-2010 school year in Pittsburgh, Silicon Valley, and Qatar, among other international programs.
-Elizabeth May
