First-gen student selected as banner bearer for August 2025 graduation
Mikko Chapman thought he was on track to get his bachelor’s degree in May 2025.
Until January 2025 when a degree audit revealed he was missing a course.
His options were clear: delay graduation or pick up another course in his last semester. The course Chapman added in the spring proved challenging beyond his capabilities, and he had a difficult decision to make: drop the course and delay graduation to August or risk failing the difficult class in his final semester.
Chapman’s choice was a lesson for all Purdue University students.
“One of the first things you learn as an undergraduate, after first-year engineering, is that you have a say in the order that you complete the remainder of your degree requirements,” said assistant director of student success Amy Wagner, who came to know Chapman through the First Generation Engineers (FGE) student advisory board. “There is no shame in dropping a class if you are having difficulty being successful in it.”
What may have appeared to have been a difficult choice at the time led to an unexpected blessing.
Chapman was selected as a banner bearer for the Aug. 9 summer commencement. Banner bearers are selected based on nominations and represent the excellent leadership, teamwork and attitudes of Purdue engineering graduates.
Chapman’s academic advisor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Darcy Allen, nominated him. She had seen the traits required for banner bearers upon first meeting the first-generation student.
“Mikko is a hardworking student with an outstanding work ethic and commitment to the BME community,” Allen said. “He is a remarkable student and a wonderful representation of the BME students at Purdue.”
Chapman wasn’t sure if “remarkable” would have described his experience when he started in August 2021. He struggled to step out of his comfort zone and into clubs and social gatherings. Although a professional development class required first-year Chapman to attend Industrial Roundtable, complete with a resume and elevator pitch, he avoided it entirely and made up an interview for the in-class assignment.
“I was terrified of Industrial Roundtable,” Chapman said of the one of the nation's largest-run student career fairs. “I was scared to talk to companies and my professors because I was afraid that they would call me stupid. But now, there’s not a single person in (BME) that I haven’t talked to.”
Chapman had been convinced to float through Purdue by the “C’s get degrees” mantra his high school friends touted. It was all he needed to gain financial aid from his tribe in Wisconsin, the Lac du Flambeau Chippewas. But by spring 2023, he was on an outgoing streak and led the FGE student advisory board, explored microbiology research (and ultimately decided to try something else) and studied to get GPA-lifting A’s and B’s.
In 2025, busy with classes and struggling to keep up, Chapman enjoyed the time to breathe after dropping the 500-level course — and time to re-engage in his Purdue community. He could focus on ECE 35300 (Systems Optimization), leading FGE and gaining work experience on the side.
“(Delaying my graduation) was very stressful until the moment that it actually happened,” said Chapman from Tell City, Indiana. “And suddenly I didn't have to worry about failing a class or being overbooked. I had all this time, and I could be more involved with FGE and make the board active again. And the summer class I was taking, I had over 100% in when I finished.”
Taking his time with the last course requirement also meant that Chapman would get to see his family much sooner than anticipated. His family, currently in Abu Dhabi, rescheduled plans to attend his August graduation in addition to his May 2026 master’s graduation. Chapman is proud to celebrate his time as an undergraduate at Purdue by leading his classmates into the final chapter of graduation in August.
“When things become difficult, Mikko doubles down instead of giving up,” Wagner said. “With first-generation students, it’s important to balance where you came from and the new world you’re exposed to in college and the expectations that come with it. Equally important is finding your place in both.
"Mikko has found that place and is a great representation of a successful student at Purdue."