Education makes a transformational difference in people’s lives. Nearly 1,000 students will graduate on Thursday from North Shore Community College. They will join more than 42,000 alumni who have benefitted from an excellent education and well-earned market-based credentials.
Following past trends, 92 percent of these new graduates will stay on the North Shore and nearly half will transfer in the fall to a nearby four-year institution, the majority of those transferring to Salem State University for their baccalaureate and beyond.
The members of the class of 2019 range in age from 17 to over 60, are majority white with the next largest proportions being Latino, black and Asian. More than 60 percent are female, 20 percent are bilingual, 5 percent are military veterans, and all are hardworking and self-sacrificing.
More than 60 percent are taking care of a dependent and 20 percent are single parents. Most struggled to pay their bills, put food on their tables, and needed financial help to make ends meet while paying their college costs to get to this commencement.
In this past year, more than 1,000 NSCC students, including a large portion of this year’s graduates, participated in a service learning course and community project. They worked in their neighborhoods giving back to others while applying what they were learning in the classroom. They participated in high numbers in the midterm elections and are poised to be the active, engaged citizens who will keep our neighborhoods healthy and democracy strong.
You will meet these alumni when you need the services of an early childhood educator, take your pet to the veterinarian, and greeted by our vet technician, use an accountant to help with your taxes, or need help from a graphic designer for your wedding invitations.
NSCC grads work across all industries and keep the North Shore economy humming along.
If you happen to have an unfortunate injury, the police officer, fire fighter, EMT, nurse, phlebotomist, surgical technician, or occupational therapy assistant, physical therapy assistant, and practical nurse in the rehab center probably learned their skills and obtained their knowledge at NSCC. They are mission-driven skilled helpers here for you.
I had the pleasure of getting to know many of these students through their activity in leadership development clubs. They became leaders in programs like TRIO Student Success Services, which focuses on developing our first generation to college students and those who come from lower-income families and may be somewhat intimidated in a college environment.
They were active in the Student Government Association as role models for their classmates learning how to organize, develop solutions to student needs and issues, and building their own capacity to be a mover and shaker. They are members of a national honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, where they experienced leadership development activities while keeping their GPA at an A and B+ level. Or, they were members of the Economic & Finance Club winning first place this year in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Challenge.
Many of this year’s graduates participated in the pre-med or STEM clubs while they honed their science knowledge. Another active organization, the Environmental Club, won an award for NSCC Club of the Year. The Multicultural Society and Queer Straight Alliance emphasized respect and tolerance.
Our new alumni created art through their work in Arts in April and produced an annual NSCC publication Spark displaying their photographs, essays, poems, and fine arts talent. A number of our graduating students performed in our annual theater production at Lynn Arts in the “Taming of the Shrew” play by Shakespeare.
Did I mention they are brilliant? A large number of our graduates will receive degrees annotated with summa cum laude (highest of honors), magna cum laude (great honors) and cum laude (honors). They will be wearing special cords around their necks to identify this academic achievement.
Our student commencement speaker, Alex Roblero of Lynn, received a fully paid scholarship to attend the University of Massachusetts Boston this fall. NSCC graduate Harrison Davis, age 17 (yes, 17 years old), won a $25,000 scholarship to transfer to film school in California. Other star students are transferring to UMass-Amherst, Northeastern University and other stellar schools with much financial support based on their academic achievement.
These thousand NSCC graduates are poised to make a huge difference in our area, state and country. Thank you for believing in and supporting them through a portion of your tax dollars and philanthropic donations. The return on your investment will be great and I am positive that they will make us all proud.
Dr. Patricia A. Gentile is the president of North Shore Community College.