BLD alumna delivers remarks at MSU's College of Natural Science commencement
Kristina Martin returned to Michigan State University for the spring 2024 commencement, but this time she wasn’t graduating.
Martin, who is the Director of Operations of the Division of Clinical Pathology for Michigan Medicine, delivered commencement remarks for the College of Natural Science on April 27.
“It’s hard to find the exact words, but I’ve never been prouder to be a Spartan, and looking around at all of the graduating students with their honors, accolades and promising future was absolutely exhilarating,” said Martin.
Martin graduated from Michigan State University in 2002 with a degree in clinical laboratory science. She then received her Master of Science in biomedical laboratory science in 2007.
“The Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics (BLD) Program was absolutely essential to my career,” Martin said. “There’s the obvious fundamentals of education and internship experience, but then there were the aftereffects of what followed.”
The aftereffects, Martin said, were the connections she built with faculty and alumni which helped her grow her career in more ways she could have imagined.
“A major component of my speech, and something I truly believe is connectedness and showing up,” she said. “I’ve always felt this way, but even more so since the pandemic as I’ve witnessed the damage that prevails when we lose our connections with one another.”
Before delivering her remarks at commencement, Martin presented the BLD Alumni and Friends Outstanding Senior Award to Avery Evans, a biomedical laboratory science student.
“Recognizing Avery, as an alumna, as she enters the profession is like passing the torch to the next generation,” Martin said, “It is crucial to patient care that the passion for laboratory medicine prevails and is passed along.”
