Participate in graduation — you won’t regret it
While discussing commencement at Bakersfield College with one of my classes, I asked how many students planned to walk at the ceremony on May 12. One said that because she will transfer to a university, she wanted to wait until she earned her bachelor’s degree to do it.
She certainly wasn’t the first or only student to feel this way, but my reaction was visceral. Why opt out of celebrating a significant accomplishment? Had COVID, and everything it denied all of us for more than two years, taught us nothing about taking advantage of all life’s milestones?
Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten on my sassy horse. There are certainly issues to consider, such as the cost of renting regalia. But I see how hard most of my students work. I hear so many of their stories, how they fight through adversity and deal with family obligations, work, health challenges and financial burdens to go to school. Completing community college with a degree or certificate is incredibly meaningful.
It’s useful, too. According to career website Indeed.com, there are numerous professions that an associate’s degree can prepare graduates for, including preschool teacher, court reporter, chef, veterinary technician, and office manager, to name a few.
Even my subject matter, journalism, does not require a diploma for people to work in newsrooms (though a degree in the subject will certainly give graduates a big leg up on the competition).
Education is extremely important. I encourage my students to continue their studies at a university because, in the long run, those with bachelor’s degrees and beyond will have more earning potential than those without.
But for people who only see their AA degree as the first small step in a process of much bigger things to come, they still need to revel in this moment. Importantly, they should also let their families and/or closest friends celebrate with them.
Students’ parents, grandparents, siblings, partners and children have been part of this process. They have watched them work toward a goal. Now that it is achieved, they too deserve the chance to honor the graduates with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with the formality of a commencement exercise.
Believe it or not, I remember every one of my graduations, from my aunt crying at my kindergarten culmination from Temple Aliyah to my brothers and mom cheering for me when I earned a master’s degree.
My student emailed to let me know that she changed her mind and would participate in BC’s commencement. Several of my Renegade Rip students also convinced a reluctant classmate to walk. I promised students that despite the likely heat, they won’t regret it. Even if they don’t appreciate it now, down the line, they’ll look back at the selfies and their smiles, capturing a moment in their lives when they were taking their first steps toward a bigger future.