It's graduation weekend at the University of Missouri. Here's what to expect.

More than 5,500 degrees will be awarded at the University of Missouri in 14 ceremonies starting Friday and ending Sunday during Commencement Weekend.

Most ceremonies will take place in Mizzou Arena or Jesse Auditorium.

Take note: Traffic will be heavy at times on Stadium Boulevard near campus. Motorists may want to consider alternate routes.

Next weekend is graduation weekend for Columbia Public Schools, with most ceremonies also in Mizzou Arena. There are just four of them.

The graduates come from all 50 states and 44 countries. Nearly 950 will be the first in their families to have graduated college.

There were 634 who completed their degrees online.

“I’m so proud of our graduates for their hard work and commitment to excellence,” said University of Missouri System President Mun Choi in a news release. Here's how MU graduates fared, according to career outcomes survey (columbiatribune.com)

Ashley Cade, of Kansas City, will graduate at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources in Mizzou Arena. Her degree is in environmental studies with an emphasis in atmospheric science.

She has been in the Meteorology Club since her freshman year, the COVID year, she said by phone.

"It's like a family for me," Cade said. "Just a bunch of weirdos who love the weather. It's really fun."

Now, she's the club's vice president and it has a record number of members, she said.

The forecast for her graduation day is 77 and sunny.

After graduation, she will work as a radar meteorologist for the North Dakota Atmospheric Science Board. She also will study cloud seeding and hail suppression.

She's preparing herself for harsh winters in North Dakota, she said.

From the other side of the state in St. Louis, Jamalon Alonso will graduate with the Sinclair School of Nursing at 6 p.m. Friday in Jesse Auditorium.

She was in the first cohort of students to use the nursing school's new, modernized building.

"The facility is absolutely fabulous," Alonso said of the building during a Tuesday phone conversation.

She also is on the Golden Girls dance team and was team captain her senior year. She attended the Cotton Bowl for the Tigers' victory there,

"That was one of my favorite experiences this year," Alonso said.

Another was traveling with Marchin Mizzou for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, she said.

Her area of study and career field was influenced by her parents, she said. Her dad is a doctor and her mom is a nurse.

"I have always had a lot of interest in the human body and anatomy and how the body works," Alonso said.

She has landed a job as a nurse on the general medicine floor at Missouri Baptist Hospital in her hometown, St. Louis.

That's not her end goal, she said.

"I have the intent of one day working in intensive care," Alonso said.

Beyond that, she plans to someday achieve another level in nursing by becoming a nurse practitioner, she said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: The University of Missouri will conduct 14 ceremonies over three days