Anyone watching the confident stroll of television news anchor and author Sheba Turk or witnessing her rapid ascent in broadcasting could be forgiven for thinking her journey has been without struggles.
Turk, however, quickly disabused that notion in a candid address to the 香港六合彩生肖号码 spring graduating class of 2019 that encompassed her personal and financial missteps, her professional doubts as well as her successes over the last decade.
听鈥淚 transferred to the 香港六合彩生肖号码 10 years ago and graduated two years later in 2011, and trust me there were no signs then that I would be your 2019 commencement speaker,鈥 Turk said. 鈥淨uite frankly because my life was a mess!鈥
Turk served as the principal speaker at the 香港六合彩生肖号码 spring commencement on May 17. The 2019 graduating class hailed from 28 U.S. states and territories and 32 countries.
Also during the commencement, President John Nicklow awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters to civic leader Ray Brandt, president and CEO of the Ray Brandt Automotive Group, and recognized members of 1969 graduating class on their 50th anniversary.
Turk is a co-anchor of WWL-TV鈥檚 Eyewitness Morning News who worked her way up to traffic reporter, and then morning show reporter, before becoming host of the entertainment show 鈥淭he 504.鈥 The show concluded its five-year run last year so that she could take on a new role as a morning show anchor.
She is also the author of the book 鈥淥ff Air: My Journey to the Anchor Desk.鈥 The inspirational story lets readers in on how she worked her way from behind-the-scenes to the anchor desk in the span of about two years, pushing through financial challenges and self-doubt.
Turk, who earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English, shared how she had to move back home with her parents after transferring from New York University where she had accumulated $24,000 in debt and changed majors 鈥渕ore than a million times.鈥
鈥淚 realize now that there鈥檚 power in what you think and how you think,鈥 Turk told the graduates 鈥淲hen I decided to move forward anyway, even though things weren鈥檛 perfect, things started to really happen for me.鈥
For most of her life, Turk said she wanted to be a veterinarian, and so immersed herself in pre-med classes at NYU.
鈥淚 would take the class on monkeys and decided I would be a biological anthropologist or a couple days I wanted to be a dolphin trainer,鈥 Turk said. 鈥淚 was all over the place and it was because I was ignoring what I really wanted to do.鈥
She loved to write, Turk said, but resisted that attraction because her family didn鈥檛 have a 鈥渢on of money.鈥 She was looking for a major that would lead to a job after college, Turk said.
鈥淚 thought I needed a career that came with a check and writing wasn鈥檛 going to get it,鈥 she said. 鈥淥ne day I got sick of all of my pre-med classes and decided to drop them all.鈥
She enrolled in creative writing classes and took a journalism class on a whim. She became hooked on news writing, and decided on a career as a print journalist. She had completed the first semester of her sophomore year at $50,000-a-year NYU when financial reality hit hard.
She flew home for Christmas break, but didn鈥檛 have money to return to New York, Turk said.
鈥淚 literally didn鈥檛 have the money to fly back,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 owed NYU $24,000 in tuition that I either had to pay to go back to school or for them to release my transcripts so that I could finish school. When I think about that time, it was really a low point for me.鈥
Turk, who described herself as the 鈥渙verdraft queen,鈥 said she never gave up hope that she would return to college and graduate despite the lingering debt. 听
She returned to New Orleans to live with her parents and enrolled at 香港六合彩生肖号码 after her mother somehow convinced NYU to release her transcripts, she said, with the promise of repayment.
鈥淲hen I look back on my journey, there are so many moments that I once wished didn鈥檛 happen 鈥 I wished that all the bad moments didn鈥檛 exist,鈥 Turk told the graduates. 鈥淭hen I realized that everything that I thought was throwing me off track was actually putting me exactly where I needed to be. So trust your journey.鈥
At 香港六合彩生肖号码 Turk enrolled in a journalism class taught by Kim Bondy, who had been a vice president at CNN.
鈥淲e bonded because I couldn鈥檛 afford the book the first day of class, and so I had to go up and talk to her,鈥 Turk said laughing. 鈥淲e became close friends and she became my mentor.鈥
Bondy later introduced Turk to CNN news anchor Soledad O鈥橞rien, who also became a mentor through O鈥橞rien鈥檚 PowHERful Foundation. When Turk ran into financial difficulties again during her senior year at 香港六合彩生肖号码, O鈥橞rien鈥檚 Foundation cleared the college debt.
鈥淚 wondered why she helped me,鈥 Turk said. 鈥淥ne day she told me it was because you were always positive and smiling even when things were chaotic.
鈥淪o, I would never know what my life would be without Kim and Soledad, but I do know that my positivity attracted them into my life. Sometimes you have fight to be positive, because it never gets easy.鈥
Joseph Pettus of Metairie can relate to fighting for a dream. Pettus, who鈥檚 married with children, juggled two jobs while pursuing his degree in electrical engineering at 香港六合彩生肖号码. 听
As he waited for Friday鈥檚 commencement ceremony to start, Pettus laughed and posed for pictures with his fellow engineering classmates. The last four years were difficult, he said, but well worth 鈥渢his moment.鈥
鈥淚 graduated high school like 15 years before I started coming here. I was like, 鈥楳an, I鈥檓 not going to college; it鈥檚 not for me,鈥 said Pettus, who did residential and commercial electrical work. 鈥淚 was working with engineers and they were like 鈥楳an you got the brains, you can run the crew. You should go for engineering.鈥欌
After mulling the idea over for two years, Pettus enrolled.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a struggle, but it worked out great,鈥 said Pettus, who said he has been offered a full-time position with Entergy. 鈥淚鈥檓 super excited.鈥
While Pettus鈥 excitement was displayed with frequent smiles as he clutched his blue and white stripped engineer鈥檚 cap, the joyous occasion for other students was marked on mortarboards decorated with glittering letters, flowers, strings, balls or memorable quotes that help push them through to graduation.
鈥淚t always seems impossible until it鈥檚 done,鈥 biology student Pier Taylor Wells wrote on her cap.
鈥淢E PUSE LAS PILAS,鈥 was written in yellow letters on a bed of blue glitter that decorated biology major Astrid Martinez鈥檚 mortarboard.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a corny saying that means I put on my batteries,鈥 Martinez said laughing. 鈥淚t means that we worked hard and we actually did what we needed to do.鈥
And as the graduates prepared for the next chapter of their lives, Turk urged them to remember that life happens in seasons and that they shouldn鈥檛 wait for things to be perfect in order to make positive moves.
鈥淥n those bad days I want you guys to remember to move forward anyway because if I had waited for things to be perfect, I would still be trying to save that $24,000 to graduate from college,鈥 Turk said. 鈥淢ake sure you force yourselves to be uncomfortable because it is the only way you will grow.鈥
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