Celebrating our Fall 2021 Graduates

Meet Patrick Jensen and Steph Ragler. Their separate journeys began some years ago when they graduated from different San Francisco high schools.

Heading into college, they dove into their separate studies at Skyline, immersing themselves in the necessary work of exploring their visions. They crossed paths in class, and after leaving Skyline, their separate journeys brought them to another class at San Francisco St. University as students of communication.

Rather than meeting by coincidence, it is more likely that mutual interests and similar ambitions often unite people in a common enterprise—even repeatedly converging them at the same time and place. For instance, after graduating with their degrees from SFSU in spring 2019, they entered the Master of Arts in Professional Communication program at the University of San Francisco—to intersect for a third time.

As they recounted their personal journeys last week to a small assembly of faculty, staff and students, it was interesting to hear Steph and Patrick affirm their different identities, explain why they embarked on their separate journeys, and describe how they charted their paths. What they have in common is that they both steer by vision, navigate by instinct and advice, progress by diligence, and they work, work, work their personal plans.

Graduate programs assess their organizational quality of life in many ways, but the most abundant evidence of quality is not necessarily the products students create, the data they analyze, the codes they write, or the workflow they engage; rather, the most durable artifacts are the stories they share about themselves. Why? In every story is a moral compass for listeners to gauge when they hear tellers recall their pasts, describe their ethical barometers, and share their aspirations.

Hearing about their journeys raises other thoughts about patterns and themes, about people’s instincts and visions, about their resoluteness when sailing through tempests and their resolve at dropping anchors in still waters. Hearing Steph and Patrick's stories is not just about noting their convergence; it is also about recognizing their differences and affirming their uniqueness as individuals.

As peers and teachers of Steph and Patrick, we benefit when we steer alongside and convene to reflect and learn, for when our separate journeys converge with theirs, their journeys become a part of ours, and their stories become a part of our stories.

Last week, Steph and Patrick walked across the stage at St. Ignatius Church at USF, and as they continue to push in their own directions, we welcome them to converge again as part of our alumni association.