This Week At Metro: Graduates cover a broad spectrum of experiences, David Morgan

David Morgan

David Morgan, 44, has played and coached soccer for Metro State. Now the assistant coach for women's soccer can add college graduate to his list of accomplishments.

Morgan began at Metro State in 1983 on a soccer scholarship. In 1986, he left the College mid-semester of his senior year to travel the country playing professional soccer for the Colorado Comets. After his experiences in the professional realm of soccer he came back to Metro State, and has been an assistant coach for six years. From 2000-2005, he coached under Danny Sanchez. The Roadrunners won the national championship in 2004.

"Education is everything," says Morgan, an education student his first three years at Metro State. He returned as a result of recruitment efforts funded by a grant from the Department of Higher Education to encourage former students to complete their degree.

For Morgan this was the perfect opportunity as his real-world experience gained over the years could be used to supplement classroom credits through the Individualized Degree Program. This allowed him to personalize a degree concentrated on sports administration.

This Week At Metro: Graduates cover a broad spectrum of experiences, Adesola Owolabi

An artist, a soccer coach, an entrepreneur, and an anthropologist are among the 1,066 students expected to receive their diploma at the commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Colorado Convention Center. Their journeys represent a sampling of the widely varied experiences of Metro State students in earning their college degrees.

Adesola Owolabi

Adesola Owolabi's (Ad-dee-sola O-wo-la-bee) husband thought she was crazy when she decided to switch her studies from computer information systems to art with an emphasis in ceramics. It started in 2006 with a simple glance into a ceramics class. From that point, she was hooked. On Sunday, the 35-year-old Nigerian-born art major will graduate from Metro State.

When her husband Bola, a 2001 Metro State grad in engineering technology, took a software engineer job in Kansas City, Missouri in 2007, the couple created a plan where she could remain in Denver to finish her program. Adesola stayed in Denver with their son, Justin, who was three at the time. Then they had another son, Jordan, who stays with Bola. It has worked, but Adesola is looking forward to joining her husband in Kansas City. She also plans to go to graduate school.

She is exhibiting her work, along with that of other students, at the BFA Thesis Exhibitions that run through Dec. 10 at the Center for Visual Art. Her exhibit "Ikoko Ibile" features a series of vessels -- averaging two feet tall -- which take a critical view of decoration within her cultural identity, the Yoruba culture.