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A friend asked Katy Nesbitt what’s more stressful: Being second-guessed by thousands of screaming World Cup soccer fans in a gigantic stadium or giving the commencement speech at her alma mater.
The first American woman to referee at a men’s World Cup, Nesbitt laughed at the thought, knowing she will get her answer Sunday as she stands before 2,500 graduates and 10,000 spectators inside Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
Pitt’s 1 p.m. main commencement is the largest in Western Pennsylvania, held on a weekend in which the area’s college commencement season kicks into high gear.
“That’s actually a tough one,” she said of the speech, her first at a graduation. “That’s not something I normally do.”
Now 34 and living in Philadelphia, Nesbitt finished a doctoral degree in chemistry on the Oakland campus eight years ago. She juggled a demanding doctoral-level course load while spending out-of-classroom time refereeing Pittsburgh Riverhounds matches on weekends.
She used her scientific training at Pitt to become an assistant professor of chemistry at Towson University in 2017. For a while, she juggled the two demanding careers until she decided to devote herself to soccer refereeing as opportunities finally opened to women at the highest level of the sport.
“I think one of the important messages I hope to convey at commencement is that, yes, this does feel like a huge moment in your life where everything is just really beginning,” she said Thursday. “But really, in life, you’ll keep having those moments over and over again.”
Crowds are not always kind to those who officiate games, and a high-stakes soccer match on the world stage can take unexpected turns, humbling a team and its fans. Testing a hypothesis in a lab is its own kind of pressure-cooker. Both can be deflating.
“You’re thinking you’ve got this brilliant idea, and then you get the results and it was nothing like you expected,” she said. “Things aren’t always going to go your way. I think resilience is probably one of the most important skills you need in life.”
Nesbitt said her five years at Pitt were formative, academically and personally.
“I took so much away from Pitt,” she said. “A lot of that was just learning how to exist in the real world.”
Pitt chemistry professor Adrian Michael, Nesbitt’s main Ph.D. adviser, said he’s not surprised Pitt would select his former student to deliver remarks to graduates embarking on their own lives, striving for firsts of their own.
“I think she exemplifies deciding to do whatever you are going to do and doing it extremely well,” he said. “I think it’s incredible what she has accomplished, and the heights that she has reached in the soccer refereeing world.”
Pitt’s Oakland campus won’t be the only place this weekend where academic regalia and iPhone cameras will abound.
Point Park University graduates will walk at 12:30 p.m. Saturday inside PPG Paints Arena, with KDKA meteorologist Mary Ours, a 2012 graduate, delivering featured remarks.
Pitt-Greensburg will hold ceremonies Saturday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. based on academic major in Chambers Hall. Pitt-Johnstown will hold a 3 p.m. ceremony in Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center.
Pitt-Titusville will hold a combined pinning and commencement ceremony for nurses in Henne Auditorium at 11 a.m. Saturday, and Pitt-Bradford will hold a 2 p.m. commencement Sunday in KOA Arena of the McDowell Sport and Fitness Center.
Campus celebrations will continue into late May.
On May 5 at Duquesne University, former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher will address arts and sciences graduates at 10:30 a.m. in UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. On May 13, one of the nation’s top trial lawyers, Thomas R. Kline, a Duquesne alumnus, will address students at the university’s law school that now bears his name.
UPMC CEO and President Leslie C. Davis will deliver keynote remarks at Carlow University’s May 6 commencement at 11 a.m. in Soldiers & Sailors Hall and Museum in Oakland.
Graduates gathered in Gesling Stadium for Carnegie Mellon University’s May 14 commencement will hear Patrick Gelsinger, chief executive officer of Intel.
On May 19-20 Washington & Jefferson College will hold commencement exercises and gatherings, with speakers including 1961 alumnus John Reed, former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and retired chairman and CEO of Citigroup.
Other ceremonies include:On May 5-7, various commencements will take place at Penn State University’s University Park campus and branch campuses across the state, including Altoona, New Kensington, Greater Allegheny, Beaver and Penn State Fayette, The Eberly campus.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, May 5-6, graduate and undergraduate ceremonies, in the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Center, Ed Fry Arena.
PennWest University (California, Clarion, Edinboro campuses) May 6, multiple ceremonies.
Slippery Rock University, May 5-6, multiple ceremonies, Morrow Field House.
Robert Morris University, graduate ceremony at 4 p.m. May 5 and undergraduate ceremony at 9:30 a.m. May 6, both in the UPMC Events Center.
La Roche University, 10 a.m. May 6 in the Kerr Fitness and Sports Center.
Seton Hill University, May 6, undergraduate ceremony at 10:30 a.m. and graduate ceremony at 2:30 p.m. in McKenna Center. Speaking at the undergraduate ceremony will be Washington, D.C., entrepreneur and philanthropist Grant Verstandig, co-founder and CEO at Red Cell Partners.
Bill Schackner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill by email at bschackner@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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