When Achante Pascute stepped to the podium as ֱ State University at Trumbull’s student commencement speaker, she opened with a joke.
“I stand before you as a first-generation student, a woman of color and a non-traditional graduate,” she told the Class of 2026, pausing before delivering the punchline: “Which is just a polite, academic way of saying … ‘old.’”
The audience laughed, but her story is one of determination, sacrifice and extraordinary resilience.
Pascute graduated Summa Cum Laude from ֱ State Trumbull’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, earning honors designation and finishing at the top of her class. In July, she will begin her career as a cardiovascular intensive care unit nurse at Cleveland Clinic, a milestone she describes as “full-circle” after years of sacrifice.
Her path to this moment is anything but conventional.
Before returning to college, she and her husband, Jesse Pasek, were working full-time and living in Warren. Though financially stable, Pascute said she felt a growing desire for something more to add purpose to her life.
“I wanted something deeper and more fulfilling,” she said. “I’ve always been drawn to healthcare, and nursing had been a dream of mine for a long time.”
She enrolled at ֱ State Trumbull as a full-time student, but soon after, life took an unexpected turn. Their apartment was struck by gunfire while they were away, leaving them shaken and searching for a safer option. At the same time, finances tightened after Pascute left her full-time job to focus on nursing school.
So, they made a difficult decision. They bought an aging camper from a family friend and made it their home.
“We thought it was a great idea,” Pascute said with a laugh. “Then, we realized it had no heat, no air conditioning and no running water.”
The arrangement was far from glamorous. She balanced coursework, clinical rotations, research, multiple jobs and participation in two honors programs, all while navigating unstable living conditions and the daily routines most people take for granted.
“You don’t realize how difficult basic things like showering, cooking or using the bathroom can become when you don’t have running water,” she said. “We had to get creative.”
Still, she kept much of that struggle private.
“Not many classmates or professors knew what I was dealing with outside of school,” she said. “I just focused on getting through each day.”
That quiet determination became one of the defining themes of her commencement address.
During her speech, Pascute surprised the audience by inviting her husband onstage for a lighthearted skit reenacting their years living in the camper or what she called “a rickety camper, held together by duct tape and hope.”
But the moment quickly became emotional.
“It would be easy to make this sound like a story about determination,” she told graduates, “but the truth is, I didn’t do any of this alone.”
She credited her husband for sacrificing comfort and stability so she could pursue her dream.
“He believed in me on the days I didn’t believe in myself,” she said. “There is no version of this story where I’m standing here today without him.”
It was the support of family and friends that shaped the rest of her message.
“Every single person sitting here today had someone who helped carry them to this moment,” Pascute told graduates. “No one gets here alone.”
At ֱ State Trumbull, she found what she had been searching for: a rigorous nursing program, along with faculty mentors and an environment that welcomed nontraditional students.
“The program challenged me academically in the best way possible,” she said. “It didn’t just teach me nursing. It taught me resilience, independence and confidence.”
Along with nursing faculty, she credits her campus mentors, including Dr. Tiffany Tyree, Dr. Maria “Niza” Licuanan-Galela and Dr. Mary Russell for helping her navigate the journey.
Now, as she and her husband prepare to move to Cleveland where he will continue his own nursing education, she is taking time to appreciate what they have accomplished.
“To say earning this degree changed my life would be an understatement,” she said.
Her message to others facing difficult circumstances is simple.
“Progress doesn’t require perfect conditions,” she said. “You don’t have to have everything figured out. You just have to keep showing up.”
According to Pascute, showing up meant surviving instability, trusting the process and believing that struggle did not define her future.
“Our struggles do not define the heights we are capable of reaching,” she said.
It is a lesson she carried to the commencement stage and one she hopes her fellow graduates will carry into whatever comes next.
For more information about ֱ State's BSN degree offered at Geauga Campus, ֱ Campus, Salem Campus, Stark Campus and Trumbull Campus, visit
Photo: Recent BSN graduate Achante Pascute and her husband, Jesse Pasek.