Parkland graduate never wavered despite challenges
May 9—Tonight, 32-year-old Shannon Voss graduates from Parkland College.
Just like he imagined he would at his darkest hour.
"I will never forget this: it was Aug. 13, 2013 (when) I had a dream that I was graduating from college," Voss said. "To this day I held on to this dream because I always had the mindset if you dream it, you can achieve it."
There'll be much to celebrate at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts: retired Parkland President Tom Ramage's commencement speech; an alumni award for firefighter and children's author Bo Chaney; honorary degrees for late state Sen. Scott Bennett and Parkland student Avery May; and recognition for the Class of 2024.
That includes Voss, a student presenter about to break the tape on an 11-year journey that has been both heartbreaking and heartening.
"I believe that I am a beacon of optimism for a lot of different reasons, because I don't let my misfortunes dictate who I am and what I have to offer," he said. "Instead I use what I've been through to inspire others."
Helped by a wheelchair to manuever and an iPad to communicate — "I'm disabled, not defeated" — Voss hasn't wavered in his pursuit. His world was rocked when, as a junior at the University of Illinois in 2013, he suffered a debilitating medical setback that left him in a coma. Suicidal thoughts followed.
"When I first became different, I used to look in the mirror and only see half of the person I was," he said. "Each time I would complete a semester or do something great, I find a piece of the missing puzzle. Today I look into a mirror and all the pieces are there."
Several family members will attend tonight's ceremony in Urbana. There will be a ticket, too, for his late mother, Veronica, who died after Voss enrolled at Parkland in 2021.
"Losing my mother while getting adjusted to becoming handicapped and trying to receive a college degree simultaneously has been one of the hardest things I've ever done," he said. "I can say that I'm much stronger because of it."
What's next? Motivational speaking is in the plans, Voss said, made possible by intense and ongoing therapy.
"I want to help others who have been in situations similar to my own," he said. "I am doing what I think I was put on this earth to do: Inspire."
