UMKC Graduates walk the stage with a mission to serve

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - UMKC graduates took a walk to across the T-Mobile Center stage, ready to embark on the next chapter of their lives.

At the T-Mobile Center, students from the University of Missouri–Kansas City’s Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Nursing and Health Studies walked the stage on Saturday. They say graduation day marks the culmination of years of hard work and a step closer to their futures

“I want to give back to this community that really gave me so much,” said UMKC graduate Kyle Ta.

Although Ta just walked the stage, he’s already focused on what’s ahead.

“The LGBT community tends to have some more mental illness diagnoses,” he said.

He plans to use his medical degree to help people who are most at risk.

“I would like to kind of help them move forward past like traumas, stresses, learn how to better cope in a world that may be a little harder for them,” Ta said.

With health issues that go beyond what the eye can see, other graduates say they’ll be ready to step in and help bridge the gap.

“There is a large homeless population. There’s immigrants that don’t have insurance. These people are always gonna need healthcare providers to be out there in the community and helping,” said UMKC graduate Harsha Nalam.

Others say they plan to be the change they want to see in the field.

“Sometimes they do not get the proper care because of their socioeconomic status or whatever that may be, so that kind of inspired me that healthcare should be accessible to all,” said UMKC graduate Meik Kerns.

For many of these graduates, their education continues, but they say they’re not losing sight of their reason why. Their walk across the stage is just the beginning.

“It’s our job to make sure that people are healthy enough to have a good quality of life and participate with everyone around them,” Ta said.

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