A College Graduate – at 19

For many college students, graduating in four years is considered an achievement, especially in today’s tough economy. Lancaster native Christian Le, at just 19 years old, will join 1,099 of his fellow peers during Millersville University’s undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 7.

Le, who will graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English education, began his college career in 2006 taking courses at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) – at the age of 14 – thanks to a program through John Hopkins that allowed him to take the SAT’s early.

After graduating from HACC, he transferred to Millersville University where he turned his love of reading into a passion for teaching English. “I found that I loved explaining things to other people. I am energized by watching my students learn,” Le expressed.

Le has spent his last semester at Millersville student teaching in Texas, where he was able to experience life in a big city, in addition to teaching for a diverse school – both of which were important to him. “Being from Lancaster, I never thought I’d see a class of 40 percent white, 20 percent Indian, 20 percent Asian, 10 percent African American, and then 10 percent un-categorizable,” he said. “Seeing a class like that makes every dream I’ve heard of America flash before my eyes.”

Throughout his college career, Le never wanted to rush through life by graduating super early. He served as president of the Commuting Student’s Association and was a member of the University’s Christian Fellowship organization. He also took a year off during his junior year at Millersville for what he said turned out to be a life changing experience. Le traveled overseas with his family, who served as missionaries, to third world countries including South East Asia; Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore. “I had the great privilege of working with children who were at risk of being sex trafficked,” Le said. “Some of the time I worked with medical teams to give children their only medical care of the year.”

While he expressed his appreciation for the English education professors at Millersville, in particular Drs. Kimberly McCollum-Clark and Timothy Shea, both associate professors of English, it is his family who he attributes for getting him to where he is today.

Le hopes to teach middle school or high school students, possibly in Texas, where his family now resides, or wherever the next opportunity arises.

In other commencement news…

Millersville University Cyclists Go to Nationals – Will Miss Graduation on Saturday

Two Millersville University Cycling Club students have been selected for Collegiate Nationals; however, it means they will miss the University’s commencement ceremony on Saturday. The USA Cycling National Championships will be held in Madison, Wis., May 6-8.

Seniors Rodney Kauffman, of Parkesburg, Pa., an accounting major; and Rachel Yodis, of Phoenixville, Pa., a French education major; will be participating in the National Cycling Championship. Kauffman began riding two years ago, after watching his brother race. He soon joined the Millersville cycling team and has been racing ever since. Yodis has competed in track and field for about 10 years and began biking as cross-training. This summer, she will be biking across the country for Multiple Sclerosis.

The USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships will be in Madison, Wis., for the second year in a row. Almost 100 colleges and universities from across the country will be represented as nearly 500 student-athletes compete for the 18 national titles.