Fall 2014 Graduates Share Their Stories

Bailey Joiner Salter, Dewar College of Education and Human Services

Bailey Joiner Salter, 24, of Tifton, Ga., will graduate from Valdosta State University on Dec. 13, 2014, with a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in communication sciences and disorders. She is the daughter of Mark and Julie Joiner of McRae, Ga., and the wife of Ben Salter. She graduated from Telfair County High School in 2008. She graduated with honors from the University of Georgia in 2013, earning a Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed.) in communication sciences and disorders. She is a member of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Her dream is to work in a school system where she will enable children with various disabilities and disorders to achieve academic and social success. Watch the video.

Siobhan A. Peterson, Langdale College of Business Administration 

Siobhan A. Peterson, 22, of Alpharetta, Ga., will graduate from Valdosta State University on Dec. 13, 2014, with a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in international business. She is the daughter of Kevin and Patricia Peterson and a 2010 graduate of Alpharetta High School. As a student at VSU, she spent a year abroad in South Korea, where she completed two internships while taking business classes, learning the language, and experiencing the culture. She also completed an internship with the university’s Center for International Programs and was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Pi, the National Society of Leadership and Success. She plans to move to South Korea and work as a kindergarten teacher at an English-speaking school while continuing her own study of the Korean language and culture. She believes that maybe one day she will work for Samsung or LG. Watch the video. 

Christopher Cagle, College of the Arts

Christopher M. Cagle, 22, of Valdosta, Ga., will graduate from Valdosta State University on Dec. 13, 2014, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in art. He specializes in illustration, printmaking, photography, and watercolor. He is the son of Arthur W. Cagle Jr. and Namie G. Cagle and a 2010 graduate of Lowndes High School. As a student at VSU, he was accepted into a number of exhibitions hosted by the Albany Area Arts Council Carnegie Library, Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, and Fruits of the Garden Winery; he received an honorable mention at two of the juried shows and first runner-up at a third. His dreams are to move to a bigger city where he and his art can find their own niche and flourish and to illustrate and cartoon under Cartoon Network or a similar programming channel. He is currently learning how to set up a one-man T-shirt screen printing shop. Watch the video.

Cadet Laura M. Ramirez, College of Nursing and Health Sciences 

Cadet Laura M. Ramirez, 25, of Cornelia, Ga., will graduate from Valdosta State University on Dec. 13, 2014, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) She is the daughter of Federico and Maria Ramirez and a 2007 graduate of Habersham Central High School. She previously attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in international affairs. As a student at VSU, she gained valuable experience as a cadet in the Air Force ROTC Detachment 172 and will continue her training as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force after graduation. She received an Air Force nursing scholarship in 2012 and the ROTC’s Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America Award in 2013. She hopes to be stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Langley, Va. Her dream is to work as either a flight nurse or field nurse; however, she knows that will take a few years. Until then, she wants to work as a military Emergency Room nurse. Watch the video

David Gully, College of Arts and Sciences

David Gully, 35, of Tallahassee, Fla., will graduate from Valdosta State University on Dec. 13, 2014, with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in computer information systems. He is the son of Paul and Delores Gully and a 1997 graduate of Amos P. Godby High School. He previously attended Tallahassee Community College, where he earned an associate degree, and spent four years in the United States Navy, where he worked as an air traffic controller. As a student at VSU, he worked as a computer science tutor, was vice president of the campus’s Association for Computing Machinery chapter, placed second in the inaugural Azalea Health Hackathon, presented original research at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, and received the Nexxtep Outstanding Student in Computer Information Systems Scholarship. He has already secured employment as a software engineer with Nexxtep and hopes to further his education in the not-too-distant future, earning either a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) or a master’s degree in information systems. His dream is to someday start his own software company. He said that he believes the skills he has acquired at VSU, along with the skills he will continue to acquire and sharpen in the workforce, will enable him to achieve that dream. Watch the video