Commencement
Jack Oharah, Welcoming Speech
Edmonds Community College Commencement
June 15, 2007
Good evening and welcome to Edmonds Community College's 2007 Commencement Exercises. To our special guests, board members, and many, many proud friends, family members, faculty and staff members: thank you for being here and thank you for all you have done to help and support these graduating students. And to our graduates: Way to go!
This ceremony marks the success of 1,747 students who reached an academic goal this year-a diploma, a certificate, or a degree-and it marks the success of all who believe in these graduates and who believe in the power of education. This great occasion is a celebration of the future made brighter. These graduates and their families have great prospects and they will do good work whatever their next steps. Our community has more educated, critical thinkers in its midst, and our whole country is better for it.
This is a class with students who volunteered in the community and strutted their stuff in theater productions. They organized for fun and for causes they care about. They are thoughtful. They are creative. They are athletic and they are hard workers. They are parents of young children and children of proud parents and they are successful. Their presence tonight bears testimony to that.
For the second year in a row, our graduates' ages fall into 6 decades from 17 to 70. Seventeen-year-old Stephanie Stokes is receiving her Associate of Arts degree and plans to continue her higher education by completing a bachelor's degree. Our 70-year old graduate, Grover Shegrud, earned an Associate of Technical Arts degree in Network Technology and is already working in the field.
This is what Edmonds Community College is about: preparing students of all kinds of backgrounds and with all kinds of goals so they will succeed when they continue in college, work in a particular industry, start their own businesses, and help others.
We at Edmonds Community College--dedicated faculty and staff-- consider our students' success is also our success.
Graduates, your education will take you in many directions, but wherever they go, we trust that you are leaving here ready to take your place as key players in the workplace, as committed students in the universities, and as people who will make our community and our world a better place. As B.B.King said, “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you,” and these graduates will go forth with a permanent asset. Their learning is theirs forever.
To everyone who helped these students reach this graduation, thank you.
Thank you to the parents, the spouses, the children and the friends who paid the tuition, took care of the kids, encouraged and supported.
Thank you to the teachers, tutors and staff who challenged, explained, listened, encouraged, supported and believed in these students.
Thank you to the community members who contribute to our Foundation scholarships and who support public higher education-especially our community and technical colleges-so we can make this precious opportunity available to hard-working students like these.
And to the graduating class of 2007, good luck, best wishes, and congratulations!
