Capital students receive a degree of respect

‘It gives you meaning’: 475 Capital Community College graduates overcome challenges, earn diplomas

HARTFORD – The challenges students faced on their way to a degree do not define who they are or what their futures will look like, Capital Community College valedictorian Musan Huric said Thursday.

“We are all capable of greatness as long as we try and never give in,” Huric told his fellow graduates.

Huric, who was one of 475 people to graduate with the Capital class of 2019 at the Connecticut Convention Center, told the audience how he dropped out of high school and got his GED before finding academic success at Capital. He graduated with a degree in computer and information systems.

Keynote speaker Reginald Eadie, president and CEO of Trinity Health of New England, pledged before his speech to write a check for a $5,000 scholarship. The promise came on the heels of his introduction when a joke was made about billionaire Robert Smith paying the student debt of Morehouse College’s 2019 graduating class.

In a first for Capital’s graduation, students walked into the ceremony behind banners signifying their area of study. It was a choice made by new Capital CEO G. Duncan Harris.

Valerie Zayas graduated with a degree in criminal justice last year and obtained a second degree Thursday in liberal arts. She said she thought the signs were helpful to represent students’ academic identities.

Between classes, Zayas’ time the past three years was taken up by her work-study program and her two daughters. She said studying at Capital taught her how to be self-disciplined and keep a tight schedule to reach her goal.

“It’s hard, but I’m here today,” Zayas said. Zayas plans to attend Central Connecticut State University in the fall to major in criminology with a minor in biology, but she said her time at Capital has been filled with great professors and classes.

“I love Capital,” she said. “I don’t want to leave it, but unfortunately I have no choice.”

Jenn Kozma, who graduated with a degree in nursing, said she will miss the friends she made during her time in the nursing program.

Kozma has wanted to be a nurse since she was 8, she said. One day, she and her dad were listening to Rascal Flatts’ “Skin (Sarabeth)” about a girl with leukemia, and Kozma realized she wanted to help children like the girl in the song.

Kozma will be working in the heart failure unit at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center after graduation with hopes to one day achieve her dream of a job in pediatric oncology.

Before finding her way to nursing school, Kozma was a five-year high school student and considered becoming a dental assistant at one point.

“I’m definitely your nontraditional stu

dent, but everything has brought me back here,” Kozma said.

Criminal justice graduate Renee Shell set herself apart from the other students in the crowd with her graduation cap. While some used gems and flowers to decorate their cap, Shell had glued a tiny plastic tiara at the front of hers.

“Don’t touch my crown my mom sowed this seed,” the top of the pink, pearllined mortarboard read.

Shell said her mother’s help made it possible for her to graduate.

Because she didn’t have internet, Shell said she would often stay at her mother’s home until midnight or 1 a.m. to finish homework. Her mother would also help feed Shell’s husband and children when the family was there.

Other challenges piled on the difficulties as well. Her job as a Goodwill case manager sometimes meant she would get called for work while taking a test online.

Shell also has multiple sclerosis. Sometimes, she said, she would write until her hand stopped working.

Despite everything, Shell is now her mother’s only child to graduate college.

“It gives you meaning,” she said. “I’m not just ‘Renee.’ I’m ‘Renee with a degree.’ ”

Lydia Gerike can be reached at lgerike@ courant.com.