A Penn State World Campus student will serve as the student marshal for the College of Information Sciences and Technology for its summer 2021 commencement on Saturday, August 14, at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Alayna Spriggle, of Reedsville, Pennsylvania, will graduate magna cum laude with both a Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences and Technology and a Bachelor of Design in Digital Multimedia Design, which she will have earned online.
Though she initially enrolled at University Park in a different major, she changed majors and campuses to find the right combination of programs and opportunities to help her achieve her goals.
“About halfway through my freshman year, I realized that creative experimentation and opportunity was the main thing that was lacking from my academics,” she said. “I came up with a goal to find a career that would include both STEM and the arts, and I discovered user experience design.”
After graduating, Spriggle will pursue a master’s degree in management and organizational leadership through Penn State Smeal College of Business, from which she plans to graduate in 2022. Upon earning her master’s degree, she hopes to put her passion for user experience design to work as a user experience project manager.
“The most important lesson I learned from my time at Penn State is that no one’s academic path is the same,” she said. “Being able to understand my future and what my goals were, along with actively making decisions toward them even though they may not look the same as everyone else’s, is one of the strongest and most courageous things that I did. The decision ended up being one of the best things to ever happen to me.”
At Penn State, Spriggle was named to the Dean’s List for six semesters and received both the World Campus Institutional Scholarship and the World Campus Scholarship for Student Success.
She held multiple leadership positions with Volé, a Penn State dance company, including safety officer, showcase preparatory chair, and public relations head chair. As the first World Campus student to rush a Panhellenic sorority at University Park, she was an active sister of Omega Phi Alpha National Service Sorority. She was also a member of Gamma Tau Phi IST Honors Society, the National Society of Leadership and Success, and the Golden Key International Honour Society.
To build her professional experience, she worked with Penn State Athletics as an IT intern and with ERIE insurance group as a process engineering intern. She is currently completing her second internship with ERIE as an IT analyst in their family life department.
“Throughout my undergraduate career at Penn State, I was privileged to be supported by amazing faculty, advisers, and fellow students,” Spriggle said. “I am so proud to represent the College of IST and Penn State World Campus, as they helped me not only find my passion, but provided me with the skills and confidence to move forward as a well-rounded young professional.”
Learn more about the bachelor's degrees offered online through Penn State World Campus.