Skip to main content

Commencement 2022: Dad Keeps His Word, Graduates from SLCC

Derek Benson waits outside the Maverik Center before receiving his diploma.
 

 

When the oldest of Derek Benson’s three children was 13, he struck a deal – if all of them went to college, he’d go back and finish his higher education degree. Well, all three kids did go to college, and Benson, true to his word and 13 years later, recently earned his associate’s degree in general education from Salt Lake Community College.

 

“They’re trying to talk me into keeping on going,” Benson said while waiting to walk across the stage during SLCC Commencement Day at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on May 6. “We’ll see,” he added.

 

Benson, 51, lives in Sandy, works for Yellow Freight Trucking and has been married to the same woman, Kayla, for 27 years. Sports is big enough in their house that they named their children after famous sports heroes. But academics is kind of overshadowing athletics these days.


Ryzen, 26, graduated from Westminster College and is pursuing a PhD in bioinformatics at the University of Utah – and his wife, Nicole, a 2021 U of U grad, even got in the game and helped her father-in-law with homework on occasion. Hunter, 24, also graduated from Westminster, and now she’s studying public health while on scholarship at Columbia University. Trajan, 21, followed his father’s playbook and started at SLCC, then ended up in San Diego and is currently taking a break from school.

 

Benson wore two blue graduation stoles (Trajan couldn’t make it to see Dad walk) that he gave to his two oldest, who he credits with his success at SLCC. “I would have never got it done without them,” he said. Referring to himself as “computer stupid,” Benson noted, “They helped me with a lot of stuff.” He even gets a little choked up talking about it all, but notes the emotion is about his kids. “I’m more proud of what they’ve done,” he said. “They’re doing big things.”

 

With Hunter moving out, the Bensons are becoming empty nesters, and now Kayla is thinking about finishing her college degree. “She tells me every day about how proud she is of me,” he said. “She’s kind of the rock – she keeps everything going.” SLCC may not have seen the last of the Bensons.


Derek Benson has a little fun before Commencement.


Labels

Labels:
Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rev Up Your Future at SLCC Annuals Hop into College

SLCC West Valley Center will be opening its doors on Friday, August 2, from 6-9 pm for their annual lowrider event that celebrates the automotive culture and welcomes current, past, and future Bruins into the SLCC community. This unique event allows lowriders to showcase their vehicles and for spectators to witness the creativity, craftsmanship, and passion that goes into a lowrider car. From the sleek custom paint jobs to the impressive hydraulics showcased at the hop-off, attendees get immersed in the vibrant culture created by SLCC West Valley’s community. Beyond the car show, Hop into College provides prospective students and their families the opportunity to explore SLCC, engage with their future peers, staff and faculty and obtain valuable insight into the degrees and programs offered. Furthermore, the community is provided with countless beneficial resources not only as an SLCC student but as a community member. Whether interested in learning more about the lowrider community o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recognizing SLCC's 2025 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Andrew Vogt, PhD Associate Professor, Engineering

The Distinguished Faculty Lecturer is a recognition of quality work by one of Salt Lake Community College’s full-time faculty and a charge to develop that work over an academic year into a public presentation. A committee chosen by the Associate Provost for Learning Advancement selects the faculty lecturer each year. The lecture takes place in the spring. Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Andrew Vogt, PhD Associate Professor, Engineering Dr. Andrew Vogt’s teaching philosophy is guided by two principles, curiosity and efficiency.  “Curiosity leads us to study a topic and allows us to really understand the ins and outs of research, while efficiency is all about sustainability,” he says. Andrew describes curiosity as a pure, open-minded impulse to explore, such as the ease with which children learn new concepts with virtually no instruction. Efficiency adds maturity to that childlike impulse, creating structures and pathways for accomplishment.  Andrew’s work has alwa...
Post a Comment
Read more

SLCC All Access

Did you know you can access SLCC lab software for free from your own computing device?   Come learn how SLCC is supporting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) with All Access. The goal of All Access is to provide any time, any place, and any device access to college computing and lab software SLCC students, faculty and staff.  All Access works on almost any device from a PC or Mac, to tablets and smart phones.  With All Access you can use programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, AutoCAD, MatLab, Mathematica, MyITLab, NetBeans, and online Library Databases.  We also provide you with online storage space so you can save your files in the cloud and have access to them wherever you are.  Anyone is welcome to this session where we will cover the basics of All Access, give you some tips and tricks for getting the most out the system, and we’ll also have some people there to help get your computer set up.  When and where: ...
1 comment
Read more