Melanie Zeck, Kokomo (Ind.) senior, will relate how values learned from "Sesame Street" characters can guide college graduates in a speech she will give at Indiana State University's 129th commencement May 6.
Zeck, who will be graduating from the University Honors program with a bachelor of music in bassoon performance, a bachelor of arts in music theory and a minor in German, is also the first student at ISU to earn a concentration in music history and literature.
In March, as part of the competitive process for this honor, she took part in a mock ceremony with other finalists before a judging panel. The idea originated with ISU President John W. Moore, who was familiar with the practice from his tenure at other campuses.
Zeck will speak about how lessons we learn as children stay with us through our college years and even into later adulthood. She will refer back to the children's program, "Sesame Street," and how she carried its messages as a simple guide for her years in college.
Approximately 1,470 eligible candidates will receive undergraduate and graduate degrees at the ceremony. Honorary degrees will be awarded to William S. Ashbrook Jr., retired ISU professor of humanities, and 1945 alumnus Stuart Vaughan, founding artistic director of the New York Shakespeare Festival and Actor's Studio faculty member.
Originally from Kokomo, Zeck graduated from Kokomo High School in 1995, and came to ISU as a President's Scholar. She made her solo debut with the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra in 1997 as the winner of the Stricklin concerto competition. She has since played in the Terre Haute Symphony for four seasons and participated in three compact disc recordings with the ISU Faculty Wind Ensemble, as well as live performances. Zeck served as president of Sigma Alpha Iota and the Student Advisory Board and represented her peers on the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Council from 1998-2000.
Zeck's research in mining and myxomycology received national attention in 1997 when she was the only college-aged presenter at the American Water Resources Association national symposium. Three times she has received first at the ISU Undergraduate Research Showcase, humanities division, for research in musicology. In April she was awarded the Alan C. Rankin Distinguished Senior Award.
Melanie's future plans include graduate school, possibly at Northwestern, Dominican or the University of Chicago.
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