MCC graduates celebrate degrees, certificates
Melissa Hansen had been itching to earn a degree for years.
The 38-year-old said she started a family early in life and wasn’t able to complete a degree program until about three years ago, when she enrolled at McHenry County College.
This weekend, she received her associate’s degree in construction management.
“It feels good to finally get my degree at my age,” said Hansen, of Ringwood.
Hansen was among more than 350 students who received degrees and certificates at the MCC spring graduation ceremony Saturday.
Graduates donned black caps and gowns and were encouraged to think of their newly earned academic credentials as starting points – not conclusions.
“When we leave here today, we will all continue to make our dreams come true,” said Donatella Smith, the student speaker.
Smith just completed her sophomore year at MCC and will transfer to the University of Illinois at Chicago this fall to study pre-law.
She reflected on how her feelings about college changed during her two years at MCC.
“I did not feel prepared, and I was scared for my life,” she told the crowd. “I soon came to realize, though, that everything would be OK.”
She asked her peers to thank the teachers and mentors they met at MCC.
Brigette Georgeanne Oberlander has spent the past few years taking full-time classes, working part-time, and raising her two young daughters.
The 26-year-old from Crystal Lake earned her associates degree Saturday.
“We’re just really proud of her,” said her sister, Holly Danielson-Connors. “She did all of this while being a full-time mom. She did it.”
As graduates exited the ceremony, faculty members lined the hallways clapping, cheering and doling out hugs.
Many graduates and their families snapped pictures with professors and friends at a reception after the ceremony.
That’s where Amanda Quiroz snacked on pastries with her parents and nine brothers and sisters after receiving a basic nurse assistant training certificate.
This was the first of two ceremonies Quiroz’s family would attend this month – she’ll graduate from Huntley High School May 31 – and her large family was thrilled.
“I’m glad I finished it,” said Quiroz, 18. “They’re excited.”