EMCC holds commencements
East Mississippi Community College held three commencement ceremonies for its class of 2018 Tuesday.
In total, more than 650 students graduated from the institution across the ceremonies, including one ceremony on the Scooba campus and one each for academic and career/technical students on the Golden Triangle campus.
In his address, EMCC President Thomas Huebner emphasized to students to not stop here, and never forget what's important. He also thanked graduates' families and recognized the efforts of EMCC faculty.
“Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, friends, students, can you remember the day you decided you were going to go to school, that you were going to take the next step?,” Huebner said. “Maybe you were sitting in your living room, maybe it was around your dining room table, but at some point in your life, not long ago, you said ‘you know what, I'm going to do this. I'm going to go to school. I'm going to start school.' It was a natural transition for you, but you decided that you were going to go to East Mississippi Community College.”
Huebner congratulated the students on coming so far, and thanked those who had helped them make the journey.
“Now you're here, and congratulations to each one of you for making it here today,” Huebner said. “It's a big deal. Here's the deal. No one in this room, no one sitting here could've made it alone. You know, you don't reach some pinnacle of success. You don't reach a goal without lots of people propping you up, sometimes people you don't even know propping you up.”
Huebner also referenced the story of professional baseball player Stephen Piscotty, who left his multimillion dollar contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 to join the Oakland Athletics, so he could be near his mother as she faced ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease.
“It's easy to stay in hot pursuit of the top, whatever the top is, but the second thing I want you to remember is this, don't do so at the expense of what's truly important,” Huebner said.
Starkville native Marlee Maples, who grad-
uated with an Associate of Arts called the occasion “bittersweet.”
“I'm from Starkville, so it made sense to come over here, but I definitely didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, but I love the friendships and the memories made here, so I'm actually kind of sad to leave,” Maples said.
Maples hopes to transfer to the Mississippi University for Women and pursue a nursing degree.
“I'm excited, “Maples said. “I'm proud to be done, and I'm proud to be moving forward to my career."