You are
here: Press Room > CWEALF
IN The News
CWEALF In The News
Friends, family, gather at MXCC commencement
June 01, 2006
Matthew Engelhardt
WALLINGFORD - With bulbs (and cell phones)
flashing and a traditional amount of pomp and circumstance,
204 students received degrees from Middlesex Community College
on Thursday evening.
The commencement ceremony was held at Mountainside
in Wallingford, and featured a wide array of graduates in
many different fields. It was a celebration both of youthful
accomplishment and veteran perseverance, with the youngest
grad a 17-year-old and the oldest 63.
"All of you have labored long and hard hours
to make it to this point," said Middletown Mayor Sebastian
Giuliano in his address to the graduates. "You made it down
a tough road managing to balance study, work and family."
The Mountainside pavilion was packed with proud
family and friends eager to support the students. College
President Wilfredo Nieves honored the graduates, telling them
he was pleased with their progress over the years.
Class president Christopher Whicker presented
both the traditional and unusual ideals in his address to
his classmates. He spoke of graduation as the start of the
rest of their lives, and of the many lessons learned along
the way.
"College is not something that we are forced
to do, it is a choice," Whicker said. "It is a philosophy
of self improvement. Every one of us has sacrificed something
to be here almost each and every day."
He went on with some helpful advice by sharing
some of the wisdom he had gained growing up.
"Play fair and don't hit people," Whicker said.
"Someday that person is going to grow and become bigger and
stronger and they won't be able to be placed into 'time-out.'"
Dr. Alice Pritchard, executive director of the
Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, served as keynote
speaker.
In her keynote address, she urged the graduates
to serve their communities, and that whatever their affiliations
may be, their efforts were needed.
"The trick is to apply what you learned in college
to your community," Pritchard said. She later called upon
the graduates to become leaders and to find their own method
of contributing to society.
"Being an activist is in fact what we are all
called to be," Pritchard said. The MXCC Board of Trustees
presented its distinguished service medal to Middlefield resident
Michael Waller.
He was chosen due to his long list of community
service, including serving as past chairman of the Middlefield
board of finance and years of being active in the Middlesex
Chamber of Commerce.
©The Middletown Press 2006.
|
