Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Mickayla Grow, assigned to the 108th Area Support Medical Company,...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. -- “It felt very surreal to be given the honor of speaking in front of my friends, family and fellow graduates.”
That’s how 1st Lt. Mickayla Grow felt when delivering the speech for East Stroudsburg University’s Graduate level commencement ceremony May of 2023.
And who could blame the 25-year-old medical services officer from Lykens, Pennsylvania? Graduation is an important day for many, and speaking at an event of this magnitude is very surreal and would rattle anyone, but Grow showed poise, grace and confidence—skills that she’s refined during her short time as an officer.
Grow is assigned to the 108th Area Support Medical Company, 213th Regional Support Group and commissioned in May 2021.
Grow initially joined the Army to keep the family tradition.
“I decided to become an officer and join the National Guard because I had two grandparents that did and I wanted to be the first female in my family to join,” Grow said. “It is truly an honor to be where I am today and have all my friends and family supporting me.”
Grow returned to school shortly after graduating to attend graduate-level courses in communication sciences and disorders. But Grow didn’t just attend classes---she miraculously balanced the requirements of graduate school all while attending her Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. No small feat for those that have been through BOLC and understand the challenges.
Outside of her Army career, Grow just finished her externship at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Wilkes-Barre working as a speech language pathologist. She also noted that she played softball at East Stroudsburg University and likes to stay active and spend time with her family and friends.
For someone as active and ambitious as Grow, it’s not too far of a stretch to see why she would make an excellent commencement speaker.
“I was selected to speak after going through the interview process and telling them about my accomplishments in life so far, and where I plan to go from here,” she said.
Grow acted as an ambassador for the communication sciences and disorders graduate program and in what little spare time she had, provided tours for interested students, participated in open houses and mentored new graduate students. True leadership qualities.
With a nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic like this, she was able to deliver an excellent commencement speech. But the prep wasn’t easy.
“It was many hours of writing and rewriting speeches and having several people look over it and practicing for hours on end to make sure it was the best it possibly could be,” said Grow.
Her advice for others in the same position as her?
“Practice, practice, practice.”
And when asked what’s next for the ambitious 1st Lieutenant from Lykens, she simply replied, “My biggest goals are just to help and inspire a lot of people and continue to work hard.”
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2023 08:00 |
| Story ID: | 451179 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 50 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Practice makes permanence: PA Guard soldier speaks at local commencement, by 1LT Lindsey Foulk, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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