Shannon Magee has been selected as the Penn State College of Education student marshal for the summer 2021 commencement ceremony, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. Megan Schrock has served as her academic adviser.
Magee, from Abington, Pennsylvania, will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation and human services and a minor in psychology. She received the University Park Provost Award from 2017 through 2020, and the Friends of Penn State, Gallagher, Riddell and Schwartz Trustee Scholarships, as well as the College of Education Open Doors Scholarship.
“I was extremely excited to be chosen as student marshal. I have worked really hard in college, and I am so proud of myself for that,” Magee said. “I am honored to represent the College of Education and continue my work in rehabilitation and human services in my occupational therapy program. I could not have gotten to where I am today without Penn State and the amazing people here who have supported me along my college journey.”
Magee was active during her time at Penn State. Her co-curricular activities included membership in the Occupational Therapy Club, the Panhellenic organization Sigma Kappa and the Volé Dance Company. She also volunteered for Lifelink and THON.
Magee interned with KenCrest, working virtually with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also had a shadowing experience at Theraplay in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, where she observed the duties of several pediatric occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech pathologists in a pediatric clinic.
“I believe the most important lesson I have taken away from my time here at Penn State is to get involved in every opportunity presented,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the clubs I was in and the people I met along the way, I don’t think Penn State would have been nearly the same.”
Magee said that embracing every experience and taking initiative in her classes enabled her to “find out who I was, who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”
Magee’s parents, Jackie Miralles and Michael Magee, and her younger sister plan to attend the ceremony. She will attend Salus University, a private university in Ellkins Park, Pennsylvania, that specializes in degree programs for the health care professions, this fall to pursue a master’s degree in occupational therapy. Following her education, she plans to become a practitioner in pediatrics in a school or clinic setting.