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REMINDER! You can view the ceremony live on YouTube by click here! Replay available shortly after as well.

Hello there to all friends and family of the Cullen College of Engineering's Spring 2024 graduation class! In honor of that group, we're bringing back a staple from the early aughts Internet when our undergraduates were born — The Live Blog.

Check back here for updates, pictures and other media from throughout the day! Myself, communications manager Hunter Corfield and photographer Andrew Dees will be at both of Cullen's commencement ceremonies. We're backstage as graduates lineup, in the crowd during graduation itself, and archiving after graduation itself.

Want to share a picture or have your story featured? You can say 'hi!' to one of us! Or, contact us by email (sjgreen2 [at] central.uh.edu (sjgreen2[at]central[dot]uh[dot]edu)) or message us on social media, preferably Instagram.

For the second ceremony, check out our story here!

— Stephen Greenwell, writer and editor

8:15 a.m. — We're still about an hour away from the procession into the Fertitta Center, but we already have a crowded fieldhouse of Coogs preparing to walk over! Gia Thy Nguyen posed at our picture backdrop with a group of her friends from her Mechanical Engineering program. She's rocking a mortarboard that she designed.

Alexandra Gorman took a photo with her fellow new graduates, Jason Schurr and Carmella Habal.

"It feels surreal," Gorman said of graduation. "Almost like we're living a moment we've dream about for so long."

Amanual Getaneh is an Industrial Engineering graduate. He wanted to keep his message short — "This one's for Ethiopia and my family."

8:35 a.m. — The formal lineup by major is beginning in five minutes, but we've managed to sneak in a few more photos. Amina Meliani is a first generation graduate, with her new degree in Human Resource Development. She's happy that her two children will be in the crowd today to watch her as she gets her degree.

"It's a success," she said of her degree, with a smile.

8:55 a.m. — Stephanie Maldonado earned her first degree in Biotechnology from the College of Technology, and now, she's added a degree in Digital Media from the Technology Division of the Cullen College of Engineering. She decided to pursue her passion for design during the pandemic.

"I'm really excited," she said about earning her degree, and explained her decision to come back to UH. "I had a passion for creativity and designing. I loved the school so much, and I loved this work so much."

Maria Abejide is earning her degree in Computer Information Systems. She's already lined up a job, as she will be a software engineer for Northrop Grumman, a Fortune 500 company with more than $30 billion in annual revenue.

"I'm so blessed to finally be able to graduate," she said.

9:20 a.m. — If you're not inside the Fertitta Center yet and you're here for the first Commencement ceremony, better hurry up! The fieldhouse is empty of our graduates now, as the procession makes its way inside.

A cluster of boisterous Supply Chain and Logistics Technology graduates were among the last to make their way over, but the small group of friends was ecstatic and excited to be graduating. Rosemary Amaya was another student with a great, personally designed mortarboard.

"I'm a first generation college graduate, so there are a lot of great feelings," she said. Her parents will be here watching her earn her degree today.

Iman Ashtiani is a Marine Corps veteran and a SCLT graduate.

"I take pride in being a student leader and inspiring others in the classroom," he said, adding that his military experience was a key, positive factor in his development.

Hakeem Ajijolaiya was a stalwart on the defensive line for the Houston Cougars football team, after a stellar high school career at Tompkins in Katy. He notched 21 tackles on the gridiron this year as a key cog for the Coogs.

"I'm blessed and highly favored," he said of his success on the field and in the classroom, adding that he was happy his parents and his family would be there to watch him today.

10:15 a.m. — The presentation of degrees has begun here in the Fertitta Center, and it'll continue for most of the hour. Congratulations to any new graduates reading this from their seat right now! We see you, checking your phones.

During some of the quiet moments of the ceremony, we've been speaking with family, friends and loved ones of those graduating. Rose and David are two colleagues of graduate Garvin Phan, who's earned his Computer Information Systems degree. Phan was an intern for them at McDermott, and they said it was important for them to see him walk and to support him.

Micheal Yang had a group of friends here, including Nirvana Smith, Danielle Facundo and Nelly Martinez, who had known him since middle school and high school. He moved to the states from Taiwan, and they joked they he owed them a vacation there, for all the support they had given him over the years. They were thrilled to come and celebrate with him today, though.

The aunt of Jordan Alfa noted that it was a "long journey" for him to earn his degree, in multiple ways. He started his educational journey at a school in Maryland, but that was more than 10 years ago. He moved to the Houston metro area, but he's been commuting from Brenham — more than an hour away — while also working full-time, while earning his degree.

"I'm excited, because he really worked so hard, and he's such a strong guy with great character," his aunt said.

11:12 a.m. — We've been able to chat with more loved ones, as the first graduation ceremony concludes! The last degree was just read off mere seconds ago.

Bradley Carlson earned his degree in Computer Information Systems, and his mother D.J. McCourt and girlfriend Makenna Hart were both here to see him walk across the stage.

"We're so happy for him and proud for him," D.J. said, adding that her son was a first generation college graduate. They moved to the United States from Thailand. He earned his high school degree from Tompkins High School in Katy, and he's already putting his education to good use. He parlayed an internship with Iapetus Holdings into a full-time job, even before graduation.

The sister of Yitzel Montes, along with her husband Miguel and five other family members, were here to support her as she earned her Biomedical Engineering degree. That included Yitzel's youngest family member, her 7-month-old niece.

"I'm nervous,," Yitzel's sister said, laughing, noting that it was a great next step for her sister, a first generation graduate. "It's exciting. We're very excited for her. She had to learn an entirely new language and for her, graduating is a big accomplishment."

Christopher Dao was cheered on by four members of his family, including his mother Judy and his father Justin. Christopher earned his degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is a product of Cypress Creek High School.

"We're very proud, very emotional," Judy said. "It's a big step in his life, and we're excited to see what he does next."

12:15 p.m. — Whew! If you're reading this, then you're probably celebrating with your loved ones the degree you just earned, or possibly, sitting in your parked car in traffic. We've got a small lull here as we wait for the lineup process for the second ceremony. I'll make a new story for when that goes live, but in the meantime, we have a couple more students to share about.

As the ceremony in the Feritta Center wound down, Gloria let out a triumphant hoot and yell, waving to her grandson Brandon Winters. He earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering. They had seven people there to see him.

"This is a life journey, and it takes everyone with you to make it to the finish line," said a family member, about why it was important for them to be there.

Cezar had a fathead-style wall graphic for Peter Jang, a Mechanical Engineering graduate he was supporting today. He called it an "amazing, excellent, happy" day for Peter and his loved ones.

Maria Annovi, a Biotechnology graduate, was happy that her parents were able to see her walk — They flew in from Spain to enable it. Her boyfriend's family was also there for her.

"I'm excited with the next steps and grateful for everything UH has done for us," she said. She will be pursing a master's degree in Bioinformatics at UH-Clear Lake.

Miguel Loaeza is a first generation college graduate, earning his degree in Mechanical Engineering. He hopes to work in the energy, aerospace, or oil and gas fields.

"I was pretty nervous," he said with a small laugh, about the process of getting his degree and crossing the stage. "It felt really surreal."

After the ceremony, he was celebrating and taking pictures with his six family members that had attended, including his parents, his siblings and his brother-in-law.

"We're very proud of him," a family member said. "He's very dedicated to his studies. He's always been a good student and son. He always tutored his nieces and nephews. We're hoping they'll be future Cougars too."