Opinion

Class of 2018

Graduating students, get those caps and gowns ready because commencements are right around the corner!

This year MCCC has 190 students graduating.

Students completing requirements for degrees during the Fall 2017 and Winter, Spring, or Summer 2018 semesters are eligible and encouraged to participate in the 2018 Commencement Ceremony. 

Participation may not be mandatory, but having the memories of walking across the stage and receiving your diploma from President Kojo Quartey will hopefully be a fond memory to look back on as the years sneak by.

The ceremony will occur on April 27  in the H Building. The event will begin promptly at 7 p.m. and will last an hour and 15 minutes. Graduates are expected to arrive by 6 p.m. but the auditorium will be open for seating starting at 5:30 p.m. 

Seating is first come first serve so it will be in your guest’s best interest to come early. It will make for a long day but the view will be worth it in the end.

Tickets for admission will be required for all guests. Due to limited seating, extra tickets will not be available. If you have tickets you are not going to use, please give them to a fellow graduate. 

As far as students are concerned we are, for the most part, first in and last out. We will be seated in alphabetical order within our degree group.

Once the last person has been called and received their diploma, the ceremony is finally over.

So congrats, graduates, and good luck on your next journey in life!

I, myself, will be transferring to EMU Fall of 2018 to complete my studies in Anthropology with a projected graduation in 2020. 

I am very thankful that I had no idea what I was doing in high school and ended up at MCCC. My experience here has been extremely eye-opening. 

I know now what it takes to be a good student. I’m no honor student, but I am happy with my grades, and I also now know the power of asking questions.

To anyone who is afraid to ask questions, don’t be! Chances are your professors will be more than happy to help.

Asking questions, for me, also helped to build up confidence in my communication skills. 

I don’t know why I felt my “wallflower” personality in high school would magically morph into a butterfly when I got to college, but that’s exactly what I thought. 

I was beyond disappointed in myself when I realized on the first day of my Fall 2015 semester that was not going to be the case.

Joining the school’s newspaper is what truly helped me find myself. I will be forever grateful for Agora editor Vanessa Ray and for Agora adviser Dan Shaw for their guidance. 

These two very important people, without even knowing it, helped me open up and want to continue on with my schooling. Before the Agora, I was ready to throw in the towel. 

The point I’m trying to make is that you should get involved in your school and show some interest. The friends you make at school will help you through the tough times when the only thing you want to do is give up.

If that doesn’t make you want to continue on, then think of it this way: we start school at a very young age; some even as young as three. Do you really want to give up at 18 when you have already been going for about fifteen years? 

I promise you, four or more years of college is nothing compared to what we have already been through.

School, like life, is not a dead sprint. It’s a distance race and I’m in it for the long haul.