When Joshua Muroi walked throughout the stage at Midwestern State University on May 16, 2026, the second marked greater than a commencement—it marked a metamorphosis.
Just a couple of years earlier, the worldwide student from Saint Lucia had stepped away from school, not sure of his path. Now, with a level in hand and a job ready within the power trade, Muroi leaves as a proud MSU Texas graduate who made essentially the most of his second likelihood. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the McCoy College of Science, Mathematics & Engineering.
His mom, Perline Mathurin, traveled from Saint Lucia to witness the milestone — one that when felt unsure.
“I felt like leaving had broken my mom’s heart,” Muroi stated. “But the time away was exactly what I needed.”
After leaving MSU Texas, Muroi returned residence and spent two years working quite a lot of jobs. He taught, drove a taxi, and labored in property administration—experiences that gave him perspective but additionally revealed what was lacking.
“And then I found petroleum—or maybe petroleum engineering found me,” Muroi stated. “I fell in love with it.”
That discovery gave him path.
“I was always a good student,” stated Muroi, who was an honor roll member in 2019 and 2020 in his first stint at MSU Texas and once more in 2025 after returning. “But at that point, good grades weren’t enough. I needed meaning and purpose behind it.”
With a transparent objective in thoughts, he immersed himself in his research on the McCoy College of Science, Mathematics & Engineering. He threw himself into coursework, analysis, Senior Design, and extracurriculars just like the college’s Formula SAE workforce.
Time, he stated, abruptly moved a lot quicker as he grew to become extra concerned.
“Honestly, I have to give credit to all the faculty, especially those at McCoy,” Muroi stated. “They could be exhausting on you, however you come
to perceive why. They count on one of the best out of us as a result of they need to put out one of the best. They didn’t make it straightforward—however that makes it all of the extra rewarding.”
One second, particularly, caught with him.
He remembers struggling some, as had been lots of his classmates, in Salim Azzouz’s class in Spring 2024. But a tricky day changed into a turning level.
“I was doing so badly in his class, and then this one day he was so mad at the class because of how we did,” Muroi stated. “He’s not one to waste class time, but he spent an entire class period to get on our butts about it.”
It hit residence for Muroi. He was going to do higher. That’s why he returned to MSU Texas in spite of everything.
“I went home and wrote him a letter,” he stated. “I felt like he was speaking to me. I didn’t sign the letter, but I said that I was going to prove to myself – and to him- that I could do better.”
He by no means informed Azzouz it was him who wrote the letter, however the outcomes spoke volumes.
Muroi completed his time at MSU Texas with a flourish, together with recognition for analysis. He was honored for the challenge, “Exploring the Electrochemical Potential of Produced-Water Mud Systems,” on the National Conference on Undergraduate Research 2026 in Virginia.
Following commencement, Muroi will start his subsequent chapter with Liberty Energy in Louisiana—a possibility that displays each his educational progress and his objective.
For Muroi, the journey included a obligatory detour, however it in the end led him precisely the place he wanted to be. And alongside the way in which, each his mom and Azzouz had been in a position to see that success come to life.
