COMMENCEMENT
Families and friends travel from near and far to celebrate with the graduates
Published May 2016
Kishor and Manisha Tambat will make their first trip to the United States to watch their daughter Purva Watten receive a diploma from NDSU. It will be worth the 30-hour journey from India to Fargo.
Watten graduates with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management on May 14, and the Tambats will be among the thousands of people who travel to Fargo to celebrate the achievements of NDSU graduates. About 6,000 people – including the students who are graduating – are expected to attend NDSU’s Commencement ceremonies.
“It’s a great pleasure for us to have our daughter graduate from a renowned university like NDSU,” her father, Kishor, said. “My daughter has worked very hard and spent the last few away from her family. It’s important for us to witness this great ceremony.”
Like many graduates, Watten and her parents notice how her educational experiences have transformed her. Interactions with faculty members and classmates and internships have changed her from a reserved freshman into an assertive and expressive leader. Her internships included stints as a sales assistant at Expressway Suites in Fargo and a guest services representative at Candlewood Suites in Fargo.
“I’ve had amazing professors, advisers and friends,” Watten said. “The professors are always so helpful and go the extra mile. And every time I felt a little homesick someone in the Office of International Programs would put a smile on my face. I’ve really loved it at NDSU.”
Watten has been hired as a sales administrator assistant at Sysco Western Minnesota in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Sysco sells, markets and distributes food products to restaurants, health care and education facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home.
“No doubt NDSU has made a tremendous change in our daughter’s personality,” said Manisha Tambat, Purva’s mother. “She is now more confident, independent, tough and courageous. Her graduation from NDSU is a dream-come-true for her.”
