Molly Canfield started wearing University of Miami-themed apparel as a 10-year-old growing up in the South. Her favorite was a youth cheerleader outfit given to her by her two older sisters, who were UM students at the time. “I wore it all the time,” Molly, a School of Communication senior, recalls. “I told all my friends that I wanted to go to UM when I grew up, just like my sisters.”
On December 19, Molly will follow in both of her sisters’—and her brother’s—footsteps, becoming the fourth Canfield sibling to graduate from the University of Miami when she joins more than 900 other students who will march across UM’s BankUnited Center stage to accept degrees on commencement day.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Molly,” says sister Rachel, who is the second oldest of the siblings and graduated from UM in 2005 with a degree in anthropology and history before attending St. Thomas University School of Law. “We’re already a close-knit family. Having the University of Miami as a unifying factor just makes it that much more special.”
Kelly, the eldest sister, graduated from UM in 2004 and is also an attorney, while brother Stephen, who earned a biology degree from UM two years ago, is headed to medical school. All of the siblings live locally.
Molly will get her degree in broadcast journalism, and like her sisters Rachel and Kelly, she plans to become an attorney. UM’s strong academics have prepared her for success, says Molly, adding that as a student she also found time to immerse herself in community service projects such as tutoring elementary school kids in reading.
Her academic stint at UM almost didn’t happen. Molly enrolled at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, immediately after high school, transferring to UM two years later after realizing she was “meant to be a ’Cane.”
“From the moment I arrived I fell in love with this place,” she says.
Says Rachel, “We bleed orange and green. Each and every one of us has had an incredible and amazing experience at the University of Miami. I think it’s all of our first picks for any children we might have in the future.”
UM’s fall commencement ceremony gets underway at 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 19. The ceremony will be webcast live at www.miami.edu/commencement.
