Maddie Green and Colleen Kubisiak will represent the graduating Class of 2026 at the College of Education’s Baccalaureate Commencement Ceremony on May 3, 2026.
Maddie Green (B.A., English – Secondary Education)
Maddie Green has dreamed of this day, when she can finally call herself an alum of the MSU Teacher Preparation Program.
When she was younger, she aspired to be a Spartan teacher and set up a “teacher’s desk” in her play area. “I remember making this little card with a graduation cap, and it said ‘MSU.’ I always knew I was going to be a Spartan,” Green recalled just days before she was set to graduate from her “number-one choice [school] forever.”
Green will graduate from the College of Arts & Letters with a bachelor’s in English and earn a teaching certification (in English and Psychology) from the College of Education as she looks toward a career as a high school teacher. She leaves MSU with 10 semesters on the Dean’s List, which honors undergraduates who earn a 3.50 or better grade-point average for courses in their program each semester.
Throughout Green’s time in the Teacher Preparation Program, one extra-curricular activity had staying power: Aspiring Educators of Michigan State (AEMS), which is affiliated with the Michigan Education Association and National Education Association. Green was a member her entire time at MSU and served as the secretary and for two years as president. Green called it the best part of her MSU experience.
“Education is tough, so having a community of like-minded people to experience [MSU] with has been incredible,” she said.
As for where she’s going next, Green aims to find a teaching job in Michigan.
Colleen Kubisiak (B.S., Kinesiology)
Kubisiak joined MSU in 2024 after earning an associate’s degree from St. Clair County Community College.
“I was raised a Spartan fan, I always knew I’d end up here one way or another,” Kubisiak said. Kinesiology was her top and only degree choice. In just two short years, she has added extra-curricular and academic credits to her resume, including a summer 2025 Summer Sports Down Under education abroad program in Australia.
“It was one of the most amazing things that I did here at MSU,” Kubisiak shared. “I got to learn so much about myself and the type of person I want to be and who I want to surround myself with too.”
Community has an ever-present theme as Kubisiak recalled her time at MSU. Kubisiak denotes KIN 465 (Adapted Physical Activity) with Associate Professor Janet Hauck and Instructor George Harnick as her favorite class. In the lab setting, Kubisiak and other students worked with community members and taught them sport skills.
She’s also learned how to ask — and answer — tough questions in more than a year as a research assistant with the Athletic Injury and Rehabilitation (AIR) Labs at MSU. Through that work, she presented twice at MSU’s University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF).
The experience helped build critical analysis and study skills that she will use as she transitions to the next phase of her career: grad school. Kubisiak will join Grand Valley State University’s Physical Therapy doctoral program this fall.