As we quickly approach May, the month of commencement, we thought it would be nice to highlight two graduating M.A. students from the Applied Communication program. Both students are recognized for academic achievement, service, and overall contribution to the department. Please join us in congratulating Kylene Baker and Brad Wesner. We offer them our special congratulations for their recent joint good news: both Kylene and Brad have been accepted into the doctoral program at Texas A&M and have been granted full funding.
Brad participated in the Department’s Pilot Graduate Adjunct Teaching program and was one of the first two graduate students to teach R110 and C180. Kylene worked with John Parrish-Sprowl as the associate director of research initiatives for the Global Health Communication Research and Resource Center and served as an intern with the National Cancer Institute. Both have an extensive amount of professional experience related to their studies.
While we are proud of their academic achievements, we also offer congratulations to this academic couple turned interpersonal: Kylene and Brad plan to marry in 2008. Brad proposed to Kylene on a visit to Texas A&M, in front of Bolton Hall, under a gigantic Texas Live Oak tree. While at Texas A&M to examine the campus and interview with the admissions committee, Brad walked with Kylene to the tree and stopped by the bench underneath it. According to Brad, “When Kylene looked away for a split second; I dropped to one knee and asked Kylene to marry me…at 8:30 in the morning! She agreed! As the sun broke through the clouds, I explained that I had done a little research into A&M and the university traditions. The large tree that we were standing under is known as the Century Oak at A&M, and it has historically been where students proposed. I wanted to carry on the tradition whether Kylene and I got into A&M or not!”
Kylene and Brad, the Department is proud of your achievements. Best of luck to the both of you in your professional and personal endeavors!