Commencement Through the Eyes of the President
Dr. Evelyn E. Jorgenson, President
On May 17, 2007, Moberly Area Community College held its 79th Commencement. This may be the 80th anniversary of the founding of the College, but this was our 79th commencement! As I stood on that stage and shook the hands of every graduate I couldn’t help but wonder about each graduate’s “story.” Some of them were clearly young graduates who had probably started their education at Moberly Area Community College immediately following high school. For those young students, I could almost feel their excitement and enthusiasm. Commencement is a milestone, a benchmark, signifying completion of a phase or part of life. Obviously, those young students were feeling that completing their Associates degree was a milestone. Some, I’m sure were completing that milestone and moving into a completely different phase of life. A student who came to MACC following high school and just completed, for example, an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) has spent most of his or her life in schools of one sort or another. If that same student is now entering the workforce as a nurse, life is going to be very different from this point forward! Students know that and it shows in their eyes as they walk across the stage! Their eyes seem to say, “Life is changing in a big way for me—on to new adventures!”
Other young graduates receiving their associate degrees are planning to continue their education at four-year colleges or universities. They know that they have received the benefits of our College’s preparation for transfer. At MACC, we take pride in graduating well-prepared students. Our courses are rigorous in order to assure depth of learning, our classes are small in order to provide individualized attention, and our students’ successes are personal. We want our transfer students to leave here with a solid foundation that will serve them well as they move on to the next level. Those young students seem to walk across the stage with a mixture of excitement about their successful completion of the associate’s degree and some measure of fear about what to expect at the next college. Their eyes seem to say, “I’ve done well here and I’m happy about that, but I also know that moving on to the next level is going to be more difficult!” Students in this year’s graduating class plan to enter engineering, medical professions, education and other very demanding fields of study.
Not all of our graduates are youngsters, and those that have some of the most interesting life stories, are those non-traditional students—the 30, 40, and 50 year olds who are just completing their associate degrees. We take great pride in their success as well. We know that those students have often struggled and that their educations sometimes had to be squeezed in around full-time jobs, raising children, and managing life’s day-to-day surprises. Most of those students do not have parents who are paying for their college tuition; they are struggling to pay that tuition themselves along with rent, car payments, childcare, etc. But what a joy it is to see the non-traditional students graduate! Their eyes beam with gratitude and accomplishment. Often I shake the hand of those students to the bellowing sounds of “Yeah, Mom—you did it!”
What a pleasure it is for me to be a part of the tradition of Moberly Area Community College which has been helping students realize their dreams for 80 years!
Copyright © 2008 MACC. All Rights Reserved.