Sophie Heinz is graduating with her bachelor’s degree in sociology from UMSL. She was encouraged to look at the university by her father, Steve, who earned his MPPA from UMSL while stationed at Fort Leonard Wood more than two decades ago. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

Sophie Heinz admits to feeling a little trepidation when she thinks about walking across the commencement stage Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Athletic Center, where the University of Missouri–St. Louis will celebrate graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Social Work.

“I’m not too excited about walking in front of people,” she said. “I worry I’m going to trip. But if I just don’t think about it, maybe I won’t.”

Fortunately, Heinz has something else to distract her.

“I’ll definitely be thinking about my dad,” she said. “I’m doing this for him.”

Heinz, who is completing her bachelor’s degree in sociology, will get to make the walk her father missed out on more than two decades ago when he completed his Master of Public Policy Administration from UMSL.

Sophie Heinz and her father, Steve Heinz, attended the Legacy Family Lunch & Pinning Ceremony together in February 2023. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Poelker)

Steve Heinz was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri’s Ozarks and training to become a U.S. Army captain in 2003 when he enrolled in a special program facilitated by UMSL that provided early career military officers the opportunity to earn a master’s degree in public policy. Professors and instructors, including Gerald Blasi, then the associate director of the Fort Leonard Wood program, would fly in to teach courses on site.

At the time, Steve and his wife were living on the base with their two young daughters, including Sophie, then 2.

“It was just like you’ve seen in the movies – struggling parents, didn’t have much and doing the master’s degree,” Steve said. “But boy, putting in that work really has paid dividends for me.”

He remembers completing the bulk of his coursework at night and on weekends during an intensive summer session while also undergoing training to prepare him for company command.

“I was basically there with another 13 other army captains,” Steve said. “It was a lot of work, but the professors were excellent. They were very good. I was really happy with everything.”

There was urgency to complete his training after the U.S. launched an invasion of Iraq only a few months earlier in March 2003. Steve wound up being deployed to Iraq that December and was still overseas the following May, so he missed his chance to attend his commencement ceremony.

He always had a little disappointment about that, though the knowledge he gained while earning his degree continued to serve him well throughout his career.

“It helped me in the military unbelievably well, especially with all the deployments,” said Steve, who spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan during his military career. “Working with those other governments, I worked extensively with that. Even now in my job – I’m project manager for the Illinois Department of Military Affairs – having a degree in public administration, public policy, has been excellent.”

Steve’s time on active duty kept his family on the move throughout Sophie’s childhood. When he wasn’t deployed overseas, he spent time stationed in South Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin and Georgia. Sophie believes that raised her curiosity about different people and cultures.

“Every two to three years we’d move,” she said. “That was very interesting and definitely shaped how I am.”

The family wound up settling near Springfield, Illinois, around the same time Steve retired after more than two decades of Army service.

Sophie attended high school at New Berlin, graduating in 2021. She then spent a year at Lincoln Land Community College and was looking for a place to pursue a four-year degree. Steve suggested she look at UMSL.

Both were impressed when they first toured the campus. Sophie felt welcomed right away during a meeting with a faculty member, and she was also drawn to the sociology program, which had been an interest of hers since she took a sociology class her senior year of high school. She made the decision to enroll at UMSL and hasn’t regretted it.

“It’s been amazing,” Sophie said. “It’s just been very welcoming. Everyone’s very nice.”

It’s been an ideal location – far enough from home to help her build her independence but close enough that she can still make it back to see her parents when she wants.

Sophie has enjoyed her coursework, particularly with faculty members such as Teaching Professor Jim Craig, the associate dean of the College and Arts and Sciences and the chair of the Department of Sociology, and Assistant Teaching Professor Brian Adler.

She’s also gotten involved on campus, performing for a time as a percussionist with the UMSL Symphony Orchestra, and working as a residential assistant at University Meadows.

Both Sophie and her parents are grateful for the support she’s had along the way, including from the UMSL Veterans Center, which helped her with paperwork to receive scholarship benefits connected to her father’s military service.

They’re all looking forward to celebrating her commencement this weekend. Told about his daughter’s comment that she’ll be walking for him, Steve was quick to downplay that idea.

“That’s nice of her to say, but she’s just walking for herself,” he said. “She earned it.”

Later this month, Sophie will be moving to northwestern Montana to work at Glacier Presbytery Camp near Kalispell. She has been a staff member the past two summers and will be taking on more leadership responsibilities this summer. She intends to remain in Montana and is hoping to secure a full-time position working to support children’s mental health.