Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Laura Ashley Forthmuller of Austintown is all decked out and very excited to be graduating from Youngstown State University with a master’s degree in health and human services as she attends the 202 spring commencement Friday evening at Stambaugh Stadium. Friday’s ceremony was for spring, summer and fall 2020 graduates, whose ceremonies were canceled last year because of the pandemic.

YOUNGSTOWN — Laura A. Forthmuller has suffered her share of loss, including the death of her father in July 2019, and she feared COVID-19 would result in additional losses, such as being deprived of a traditional commencement to celebrate some of her key achievements.

Instead, the Austintown woman found herself among the Youngstown State University spring, summer and fall 2020 graduates who walked across the stage to receive diplomas during Friday evening’s in-person outdoor commencement at Stambaugh Stadium.

Last year, all such ceremonies for the Class of 2020 were held virtually because of the health pandemic.

Forthmuller, who earned straight A’s in graduate school in the field of health and human services, also has used her losses as a lynchpin for trying to achieve a large and ambitious goal — the first step of which will entail moving out of state next fall.

“I want to be part of Florida’s public health system and improve health care there,” the YSU grad said, adding: “My mom is the only relative I have left in Ohio.”

Another graduate who aims to make improvements in people’s lives is Antonella LaMonica of Niles, an exercise-science major and 2017 Warren John F. Kennedy high school graduate who also was on the high school track team.

“I want to be a physical therapist,” and earn a doctor of physical therapy degree, explained LaMonica, a Class of 2021 member who attended Friday’s ceremony because she has a track-and-field conference and is unable to attend today’s commencement for spring 2021 grads.

LaMonica’s cap contained a phrase that left no doubt about how she intends to track her future: “I sprinted through the B.S. (bachelor of science), DPT (doctor of physical therapy) next.”

Also sprinting ahead in her life’s trajectory is Abbey R. Berick, who moved last summer from her native Youngstown to Virginia Beach, Va., to be closer to her boyfriend stationed in the Navy in nearby Norfolk — and who wore a mortarboard at Friday’s commencement that read, “Part of the journey is the end.”

The 2016 Austintown Fitch High School grad, who also graduated from YSU summa cum laude, majored in finance and works as a loan partner that largely entails dealing with applications and files, she said.

“It feels amazing. Honestly, I’m grateful that YSU is willing to do this. I feel validated,” Berick explained, referring to the university’s decision to have an in-person ceremony.

Dannielle Hubbert of Youngstown and some co-workers are wasting no time getting a few businesses in the area off the ground, such as a day care center to serve children with autism, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders and other challenges and conditions. The business will fulfill a vital need, because most traditional day care facilities lack enough experienced personnel to serve those populations, Hubbert noted.

In addition, she and a co-worker are starting a program to train state-tested nurse’s aides, and the first such class will begin in July, said Hubbert, who also earned an associate degree from Eastern Gateway Community College.

“(Graduating in person) feels great, especially after the year we had,” said Brooke Vitullo of Austintown, who changed her major from early childhood education to business management.

Vitullo, a 2015 Fitch High grad who’s also attending graduate school at Walsh College to earn a master’s degree, said her career interests are in marketing and management. Making Friday’s commencement even sweeter for her was being able to share the occasion with best friend and fellow graduate, Isoria Rezapourian, an exercise-science major.

Delivering the keynote address was Ron Shaklee, a YSU geography professor who served 15 years as director of the university’s Scholars and Honors programs.

“Keep moving forward,” advised Shaklee, who joined the faculty in 1987 and also is a Vietnam veteran who earned degrees in geography from the University of Kansas.

He also advised the grads to celebrate their resolve and tenacity in dealing with a highly difficult year, as well as to step out of their comfort zone, recognize occasional failure as inevitable and make a difference in the world.

YSU President Jim Tressel echoed those sentiments, telling the graduates they have the power to make an impact, develop greater leadership skills and increase their excellence in all they do.

He also called Friday’s gathering “the most exciting commencement in our 113-year history.”

Giving the student reflection was Andrew Edie, a registered nurse who recalled the shock of learning classes had been canceled because of the health crisis. Nevertheless, his classmates and faculty persevered, and the pandemic deepened his resolve as a frontline worker to help others, said Edie, who began his career at the Cleveland Clinic.

He also remembered seeing an unconscious child on a highway as he was driving, and being touched by how fellow nurses and citizens pulled together to aid the youngster.

The frightening experience “reminded me that we have an innate compassion inside ourselves and in others,” Edie told his fellow grads.