Ninety-four people graduated from Rainy River Community College Friday, with commencement shared with families and friends, and including speakers and music.
There were 21 graduates receiving advanced degrees and one student with multiple degrees. The average age of the graduates was 25 and nearly a quarter of the class, 23, were students of color. Fifteen of the graduates earned an associates degree while still in high school.
The event began with the all volunteer Rainy Lake Community Orchestra playing as a procession of faculty, special guests and the students entered the gym to flashing cameras and smiling parents. The graduates wore dark red gowns and the nursing graduates wore white.
Students wearing the gold stoles belonged to the two-year honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, and earned a 3.5 cumulative grade point average or higher.
One of the graduates, Breanna Johnson, sang both the Canadian and American national anthems.
Jamie Wreggitt, an RRCC student, performed a guitar solo he composed himself for the graduates and guests.
RRCC Provost Wayne Merrell welcomed guests and RRCC Foundation Chairman Allen Rasmussen and the rest of the board to the commencement.
In addition to conferring the degrees to the graduates, Joseph Sertich Jr., president of the Northeast Higher Education District, offered greetings and reflected on his 36 years in higher education, half of them as an instructor before working in administration.
Sertich recalled his own graduation from a community college in Hibbing in 1967. Raised in a mining town at a time when people left high school for good paying jobs, he said his concern was that he would graduate at all, and the furthest thought from his mind was that he would someday be president of the same college.
Sertich said that leadership and learning are inseparable and the graduates would not always know or understand the ways that they will be challenged and called upon to make a difference in their careers and communities. He encouraged them to think about the legacy they want to leave. He said that as they encounter challenging choices, they will remember the staff, faculty and friends who helped them at RRCC.
RaeAnn Taylor, a graduating nursing student, was the student speaker. She reflected on the words of Florence Nightingale, in calling her fellow graduates to aspire to their work and higher education goals. She emphasized the importance of applied learning and passion for their professions.
The keynote address was delivered by Molly Skifstad, a pharmacist who was named student of the year when she graduated from RRCC in 2003. She went on to earn a degree in pharmacy from North Dakota State University in 2005 and a doctorate in pharmacology in 2007. She now works at Fairview University Medical Center in Hibbing.
Skifstad reinforced the importance of the life lessons that students learn along with academics from kindergarten to college. She said that openness, tolerance and teamwork were as valuable on the job as any credentials.
Teamwork, Skifstad said, is the most important and the most difficult asset on the job. She encouraged the graduates to do the things that need to be done, and for others when needed, regardless of what they might consider to be beneath them. This will ensure that working relationships are open and strong, and that they in turn will be supported when the time comes, she said.
Skifstad said everyone has bad days and recalled apologizing to a staffer for being short with them for numerous calls to complete something that she was working on. It was important to heal that rift, she added, so that there would be no hesitation in the future when they needed one another again.
Following the ceremony, the graduates met with family and faculty to enjoy their special moment together. Some of them reflected on their decision to attend RRCC.
John Vocelka, a Phi Theta Kappa graduate with highest honors, earned his associates degree and plans to pursue history at St. Cloud State University.
Originally from Park Rapids, Vocelka served for eight years in the U.S. Navy before coming back to pursue college. He looked at two community colleges before choosing RRCC because he liked the campus
Shanna Olsen of Baudette studied business management and earned highest honors. She chose the campus for its program, size and location.
“The teachers here are very helpful and willing to work with you,” she added.
Belinda Obi-Rapu chose RRCC because similar community college nursing programs in the Twin Cities have long waiting lists. She found the small and remote campus to be a positive experience.
Her fellow classmates also from Minneapolis, Gloria Lukalu, originally from Uganda, and Beatrice Bwaley, from Kenya, also chose the school for program availability. They are going to pursue their registered nursing degrees at Hibbing as well.
Joseph Kipyego, a native of Kenya, graduated in the licensed practical nursing program. He is from the Twin Cities and would go home as often as possible to be with his wife and children. He will go on to study to become an RN at Hibbing IT.
“This is a wonderful school,” said Kipyego.
RRCC 2008 graduates
Brooke Amiot
Dana Bacon
Laura Balaski
Staci Bannert
Erica Batdorf*
Leanne Beck
Michelle Beck*
Dana Bilben
Katrina Blais**
Adarius Buckles
Riley Burnell*
Beatrice Bwaley*
Kimberly Cameron
Janyce Cassibo*
Breanna Chezick
Nathan Cousineau*
Charlene Crane*
Jacqueline Cumber
Megan Darvell
Acacia Dault
Michael Demuth
Natalie Desjardins
Stephanie Dremmel
Ayda Dunbar*
Heather Englund
Sethen Ettestad*
Nathan Francis**
Lovensky Frederick
Laura Gillman
Samantha Haley
Tonya Hamilton*
Theresa Hanson
Kelly Helmer
Anne Henningsen**
Phillip Homere*
Michelle Hopkins**
Janelle Ide
Breanna Johnson
Chad Johnson
Dantron Johnson
Jeanine Johnson
Elizabeth Keeney
Sarone Kennedy
Joseph Kipyego
Zoe Klindt*
Natasha Kopkie*
Alysha Korbl
Rocky LaBlanc**
Ariel Lagen*
Tammy Linder**
Gloria Lukalu
Jarvis Major
Brittany Martinez
Kory McRoy
Laura Mielke
Janelle Morrisseau*
Michael Morrow
Seth Nelson**
Hollie Neufeld
Heather Nevalainen*
Lucy Nevanen*
Zira Nixon
Maria Nordlund**
Belinda Obi-Rapu*
Dorica Ogeto**
Shanna Olsen**
Dianne Otto**
Ashley Pavleck
Kaitlyn Pelowski**
Janelle Peterson
Tawnya Porter**
Agatha Prevost*
Wilson Prevost
Darcy Randall
Jocelyn Rinke
Antonio Robinson
Matthew Salo
D’Andre Sherill
Jeffery Silvers*
Marcus Singletary
Ryan Skogstad
Hoa Sobczynski**
Danielle Stamarski
Morgan Supinski*
RaeAnn Taylor
Katie Thorstad
Horace Tidwell
Jeanine Trappe**
John Vocelka**
Lindsay Warner
Kristie Wicklund*
Megan Wood*
Paige Zubriski
With Honors*
With Highest Honors**