Class of 2021

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GRADUATES

Congratulations Class of 2021!

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Ottawa gave him a passion for learning In 2017, Daniels experienced what he says was “one of the proudest moments of my life:” He walked the commencement stage after completing his bachelor’s degree.

“I can remember saying, ‘God, please

BY SCOTT ALBRIGHT Ottawa University

F

loyd Daniels lost his job unexpectedly in 2013, when his employer closed its Phoenix of�ice. He was 39, had worked his way up to management level with only a high-school education and was now at a crossroads.

He realized that education needed to be his priority, so he decided to pursue an associate’s degree in business administration and enrolled in Everest College.

Nearly two years later, with only two courses left to complete his degree, Everest �iled for bankruptcy in 2015 and closed all its campuses nationwide.

“Needless to say, I was devastated and discouraged – I just felt hopeless,” Daniels said “This is when I was introduced to Ottawa University’s Arizona campuses. I remember meeting with an Ottawa admissions representative, who encouraged me by saying: ‘It’s not over. Let me help you complete your degree.’

“I was defeated at the time, thinking maybe I wasn’t meant for school, so that’s exactly what I needed to hear.”

Daniels took the information shared with him about Ottawa’s �lexible, online adult education offerings, which included an opportunity to �inish his two outstanding associate’s degree courses and a transfer opportunity to get his bachelor’s degree from Ottawa.

Though he thought of taking a break, he received a call from the admissions department at Ottawa University-Arizona asking if he was ready to �inish his education.

“Even though I wasn’t yet convinced about my plan of action, something made me say, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’ By the summer of

Ottawa instilled that passion in me, and really changed my life.”

Daniels is the �irst and only member of his immediate family of eight to have completed any type of degree. He said he will be forever grateful that “Ottawa

I won’t say this time that I’m done because, “ obviously, I have developed a passion for continuing my education. Ottawa instilled that passion in me, and really changed my life.

”

– Floyd Daniels

Floyd Daniels 2015, I was enrolled and taking my �irst class at OUAZ’s Phoenix campus.”

Now 41, Daniels was on his way to earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He was also working again full-time, putting in a minimum 55 hours per week.

“There were many times I wanted to quit,” Daniels said. “I �igured I made good money, so why did I need to continue? I came to the realization that this was not about the money. It was something I needed to do for myself. Not having a degree and working around many that did make me feel inadequate. This frame of mind really motivated me to push forward.”

let me get through this,’ and with his grace I did,” Daniels said.

There was something inspiring about the accomplishment and his experience at Ottawa: he wanted more.

“I never would have thought I’d consider pursuing another degree after what it took to get my bachelor’s,” Daniels said. “But that’s exactly what I did. In 2018, at the age of 44, I decided to take the leap once more and get my master’s in leadership from Ottawa.”

Daniels completed his masters in 2019.

He could have just move on to the next chapter in his life.

But he wasn’t quite �inished yet.

“The strangest thing happened, I enrolled yet again!” Daniels said. “This time, I am pursuing a second master’s in human resources. I’m currently in my last two classes which I will complete at the end of April 2021 at the age of 46.

“I won’t say this time that I’m done because, obviously, I have developed a passion for continuing my education.

took a chance on me and allowed me to live up to my potential.”

“It has truly been an honor, and I sing Ottawa’s praises every opportunity I get,” Daniels said.

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University has grown from a single building in Ottawa, Kansas, into a comprehensive educational institution serving more than 5,000 students through its residential and adult campuses in Kansas and Arizona, an adult campus in Wisconsin and online.

Ottawa-University-Arizona (OUAZ) in Surprise opened in August 2017 and has grown to more than 800 students.

With its adult campus in Phoenix, Ottawa University has had a footprint in Metro Phoenix since 1977 with more than 8,000 alumni. Nationwide, the university has more than 22,000 graduates.

To learn more about Ottawa University’s Arizona campuses in Phoenix and Surprise, visit ottawa.edu/ouaz or contact an enrollment advisor at 855-5461342 or ouazadmiss@ottawa.edu to setup an advisory session.

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GRADUATES

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MAY 30, 2021

Casteel CLASS OF 2021 HIGH SCHOOL

CASTEEL HIGH SUMMA CUM LAUDE GRADS

Alyssa Le

Alyssa Muccillo

Breelyn Cocke

Bryce Askew

Carson McDaniels

Jennifer Joy

Lilia Bowers

Lily Steenhard

Mason Salonic

Myka Williams

Natalie Nguyen

Rylee Dockery

Sasha Kroman

Shrey Dolwani

GRADUATES

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MAY 30, 2021

Hamilton CLASS OF 2021 HIGH SCHOOL

HAMILTON HIGH SCHOLARS • Jayashree Adivarahan

• Diana Ethridge

• Yun-Hung Lo

• Afreen Shah

• Abigail Alevizon

• Qianhui Feng

• Audrey Lockman

• Neha Shakir

• Paige Allen

• James Fink

• Emilie Ma

• Niharika Sharma

• Mayra Anthony

• Saisrinidhi Ganta

• Skylar Ma

• Emma Skaggs

• Sabah Ashfeen

• Shreena Garg

• Sophia Macko

• Jack Stinson

• Vinayak Athavale

• Srishti Garg

• Ria Manathkar

• Rick Sun

• Nidhi Athreya

• Amanda Gong

• Kendra Marutani

• Arun Tailor

• Anika Attaluri

• Alexander Gonzalez

• Aditya Mehta

• Kaitlyn Tam

• Jacqueline Augustine

• Joshua Grumski-Flores

• Ethan Merritt

• Brandon Tang

• Keerthana Balaji

• Rishabh Guttal

• Jack Miessner

• Jingran Tang

• Rajanandini Bandi

• Devan Hakkal

• Aaryan Mukherjee

• Lily Tantillo

• Katelyn Berger

• Manvi Harde

• Claire Mullings

• Kiran Thallikar

• Katie Boatright

• Youssef Hassan

• Yasmine Muraweh

• Ethan Tonthat

• Sydney Brown

• Andrew He

• Liam Nance

• Matthew Torel

• Annika Buelt

• Angelina Hobbs

• Dravid Navale

• Shreya Tripathi

• Anthony Bui

• Allyson Huang

• Ngoc Nguyen

• Taylor Vance

• Jackson Burns

• Emily Hudson

• Ramya Nishtala

• Miro Vanek

• James Cannon

• Zara Jahan

• Liane Ozoemelam

• Kaamyaa Venkataraghavan

• Diana Chase

• Abbie Jin

• Shivan Patel

• Abdullah Virk

• Kabir Cheema

• Audrey Johnston

• Shravan Pejavar

• Drew Wagerle

• Andrew Chen

• Anvi Joshi

• Aishwarya Potturu

• Amy Wang

• Yi Chen

• Jillian Kahn

• Alexis Powell

• Angela Wang

• Michael Chen

• Shrika Kantala

• Maura Pudoka

• Joseph Wang

• Viveka Chinnasamy

• Gabrielle Kay

• Nidhi Pulicherla

• Jessica Wastchak

• Alina Chisti

• Juhi Khandelwal

• Lauren Quan

• Emily Westersund

• Jacqueline Chiu

• Esther Kong

• Archana Ram

• Eve Wodarcyk

• Raj Chopra

• Ananya Kotti

• Sanjana Ramakrishnan

• Amanda Wong

• Harrison Constance

• Zocelyne Kow

• Sophia Reitano

• Ethan Xiong

• Rachel Cox

• Siddhant Labade

• Graciela Roybal

• Arthur Yang

• Dylan Crespo

• Amy Le

• Austen Ruddle

• Marlee York

• John Curcio

• Cameron Lee

• Zahradinee Sarker

• Garrett Young

• Candice Decuna

• Andrew Li

• Sazma Sarwar

• Jessica Zhang

• Anika Desai

• Ika Lin

• Mackenzie Schmader

• Xenia Zhao

• Samantha Diep

• Hanson Liu

• Sara Schultz

• Aris Zhu

• Aryan Eksambe

• Vivian Liu

• Shri Sanjay Kumar Selvakumar

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MAY 30, 2021

CONGRATULATIONS

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f o s s la

GRADUATES

THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MAY 30, 2021

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HIGH SCHOOL

CLASS OF 2021

TOP SCHOLARS

Peyton Idleman

Camden King

Parents: Brian and Traci King

Parents: Bryan and Kristin Idleman

QPA: 4.95455 Weighted

GPA: Weighted- 4.95

University: Arizona State University

University: ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Major: Finance

Major: Aerospace engineering (astronautics)

Extracurriculars: President of Leo Club, vice president of National Honors Society, Leader of Hype Squad, Reach Higher/Better Make Room, Spanish National Honors Society, Key Club, Stem Scholar, varsity track, JV soccer, football, volleyball.

Off campus: Back server to server at Culinary Dropout, golf, mentoring/internship with attorney Garrick L. Gallagher, reselling shoes and designer clothing, 130+ hours of volunteer work.

Extracurriculars: Varsity cross country, varsity track, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society, STEM Scholar, AP Scholar, Link Crew, Operation Smile secretary, She’s The First treasurer, Women in STEM, English Language Learners Assistants, German Club, Math Club, Biology Club, Ukulele Club.

Off campus: Math tutor, volunteering, INTEL National Science Fair Qualifier (2019), Project Boom member (graduate project designing supersonic drone), piano.

a h s a B CLASS OF 2021 HIGH SCHOOL

TOP SCHOLARS

Brielle Edwards

Parents: Tisha and David Edwards GPA: 4.944 University: University of Arizona Major: Pre-pharmacy Extracurricular activities: Science is Fun, Girl STEMpowerment, National Honors Society vice president, Sí Se Puede vice president, National Spanish Honors Society, All Walks president.

Outside school: Instructor at Mathnasium

Jake Summers

Parents: Jennifer Summers and Brent Summers GPA: 4.80 University: Arizona State University, The Barrett Honors College.

Major: Astrophysics and mathematics Extracurriculars: Math Club co-president, Academic Decathlon team captain, Science is Fun. Off campus: Soccer referee, junior coach at the Fulton Elementary Robotics Club last year.

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THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | MAY 30, 2021

C on W gr ol a ve ts, s

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CHANDLER HIGH CLASS OF 2021

Congratulations to the Chandler High Class of 2021! We are proud of our Wolves!

Over

2017

in scholarships

13 IB Career 57 IB Course 16 IB Diploma 127 cum laude 43 magna cum laude 69 summa cum laude

834 Graduates

Signed w/ Military:

51 signed college athletes

Army: 2 Marines: 5 Navy: 4 Air Force: 2

$32 million

2021