Symone James was struggling. At the time, the fifth-grade teacher at Roger Sherman Elementary School in Meriden had a class that she said, “needed a lot of love and patience.” “I fell into a place where I was not sleeping and constantly thinking about work and my students,” she recalled. “At night, I’d lay awake going over anticipated behaviors and situations, and tasks of that day.”

This year, more than 8,700 students across all UConn campuses will graduate from the University. As many as 11,000 people are expected to gather on the Storrs campus the weekend of May 7 and 8, to celebrate as 6,015 undergraduates and 2,210 graduate students are awarded degrees.