Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Benjamin Arnim is all smiles as he celebrates having received a bachelor’s degree during Youngstown State University’s spring commencement Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. Arnim majored in business finance with a minor in marketing.

YOUNGSTOWN — For Audra Buckley, you could say that Mother’s Day will be doubly exciting, celebratory and meaningful.

“It’s a proud moment to have all three with college degrees and jobs awaiting them,” Buckley, of Howland, said.

She was referring to twin daughters, Kendyl and Kamryn, who took home degrees after Youngstown State University’s outdoor spring commencement Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

Also part of the celebration was daughter Morgan Buckley of Cleveland, who graduated from YSU in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in business.

“Since I’m an (YSU) alum, that makes me very proud,” Audra said about her three daughters’ accomplishment.

“My mom had a lot of influence on me. She’s an educator as well,” said Kamryn, of Howland, referring to her decision to major in primary and special education before being hired to work for the Warren City School District and finishing her third-grade student teaching last week.

Kamryn, who also has her eye on being an intervention specialist, added that one of her proudest moments at YSU was having passed four state-mandated tests on her first attempts.

Kendyl’s education and employment trajectories went in a different direction than her sister’s, because she earned a bachelor’s degree in business and works for Cohen & Co., a Cleveland-based accounting firm with an office in Youngstown, for which she also had completed two internships.

After her first accounting class, something “clicked for me,” and she realized she was in the right field, said Kendyl, whose main focus is on preparing real estate income taxes.

For Kendyl, having been in YSU’s Honors College all four years and being inducted into the university’s Beta Gamma Sigma class in her junior year were among her crowning achievements, she continued.

Also excited to have been among the estimated 1,600 grads to earn degrees Saturday was Katelyn Urichich of Girard, whose daughter, Elena, 2, was part of the festivities.

“I’ve always loved social work. I even want to open my own clinical practice,” said Urichich, who is an intake caseworker for the Summit County Children Services Board in Akron.

Another ambition for Urichich is to increase the availability of bilingual services at the agency. She added that it felt “empowering” to successfully juggle raising Elena as a single parent, work full time and take classes at YSU.

Mother’s Day likely will be extra special also for Hannah Day, who earned a master’s degree in social work and hopes to open a private practice in a few years. Day, whose 4-year-old son, Liam, got to watch her walk across the stage and be handed a degree, said she intends to pursue clinical counseling, with an emphasis on helping older people.

Some of her teachers before she enrolled at YSU predicted she would be a “C” student at best, but instead she earned straight-A’s at the university and was inducted into the National Honor Society last semester, said Day, who works for Gillette Nursing Home in Warren.

The commencement speaker was William “Bill” Kennedy Jr., president of Redex Industries Inc. of Salem, which manufactures Udderly Smooth creams, moisturizers and related products.

Kennedy, who graduated from YSU in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, recalled having worked long hours with his siblings to make the family business succeed. He originally set out to be a pharmacist, he remembered.

Kennedy also reflected on when the late Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. was the commencement speaker for his graduating class. The longtime mall developer urged the students to refrain from wasting time, Kennedy said in advising the grads to follow suit, as well as to work hard, adjust their plans when necessary and expect failure.

The student speaker was Kathryn Kimes, who earned a bachelor’s degree in music education and plays mainly the saxophone but also the flute, clarinet and piano.

Kimes, who performed in YSU’s jazz and wind ensembles, Voices of YSU group and in various quartets, praised the students for persevering despite having to learn remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless of what degrees they earned, the graduates would do well to “always remember you are doing what you do for a reason and others are relying on you.” They also will be judged and remembered more for the love they put into their work than for the degrees they earned, she continued.

YSU President Jim Tressel encouraged the grads to set their goals high, strive for excellence in what they do and make a difference in the world.

Tressel also bestowed an honorary doctor of science degree upon Kennedy, then asked student veterans and those in the stands who served their country to stand and be recognized, which resulted in applause.