graduation

Katherine G. McGovern College of the Arts Commencement Spring 2023

I graduated! So proud to say I am now an alumna of the University of Houston and have graduated Magna Cum Laude. I’ve put my blood, sweat, and tears into the last four years here and am so excited to see my hard work paying off. Graduating alongside people who have grown with me along the way made the experience exponentially more rewarding. I’m so thankful to my parents, who have supported me in every way possible from the very beginning and taught me what work ethic should look like. I’m incredibly grateful for my professors, Dr. Blake Wilkins and Mr. Alec Warren, who took a chance on 18-year old Carissa who never had a percussion director or percussion lessons and barely knew how to hold four mallets. They saw potential in me I hadn’t yet seen myself. I am so excited for this next chapter in my life at SMU and cannot wait to update on how things go up there!