“You are all following the footsteps of excellence,” Norm Jones, executive dean of Southwest Colorado Community College, said Sunday in his address to the school’s graduating class of 2014. “Today is great starts.”
One-hundred forty-six students earned their degrees and certificates from the school, part of the Pueblo Community College system, during the commencement in the almost-full Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. On other Pueblo Community College campuses, 804 students also earned diplomas.
For many, they were the first in their families to achieve a higher education.
Jones asked them to stand, and with some surprise, asked members of the college faculty who shared that experience to stand as well. There were more than a few tears.
“This,” he told the students, “marks just the beginning for you.”
Pueblo Community College president Patty Erjavec recognized several students for their dedication.
Sherri Ann Haldorson, 45, was awarded the Presidential Scholarship Award, earning a perfect 4.0 in her two years at the college.
Haldorson, a single mother, was laid off from her job three years ago. At the time, she was afraid and unsure about her path in life. Today, she is enrolled at FLC and is studying education. She plans to be an elementary school teacher.
“I am here today because of that little girl,” she said about her daughter, Brooklyn, who was in the audience, watching her mother accepted her award.
She acknowledged the collaboration found among the college faculty and staff, thanking nearly all her professors.
Afterward, she spoke about the challenge of embarking on a college career later in life.
With a child and responsibilities outside of school, Haldorson said the difficulties “just to get to (class)” often seem overwhelming.
The commencement address came from Col. James E. Moschgat, of the U.S. Air Force, retired.
Now deputy commandant with the National Security Space Institute’s Air University, he helps lead a team that designs education credentials for the Department of Defense and others in military and space career fields.
In his 30-year Air Force career, he recorded 4,000 hours of flight in training and fighter aircraft, and he flew in 60 combat missions.
Moschgat began with a quote from 19th-century poet William Ross Wallace, saying “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”
Sunday, after all, was Mother’s Day.
He evoked the potential in each student and praised them for reaching for their goals. Invoking Nelson Mandela he said, “The most powerful weapon you have to change the world is your education.”
He also called education “the pathway to your dreams.”
A humble janitor at the Air Force Academy, Moschgat said, taught him much about life. He described a quiet man, reserved, often unnoticed. Later, Moschgat would learn that the janitor, Bill Crawford, a World War II veteran, had committed selfless, heroic acts in battle and was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
“That was just one day in my life,” Crawford told Moschgat about the battlefield events that earned him the nation’s highest military honor.
Moschgat shared the lessons he learned from Crawford with the graduating class. He spoke of humility, respect, courtesy and leadership. He warned them to be cautious of labels.
“Don’t miss the opportunity to learn,” he said.
As students accepted their degrees, tears ran down faces in the applauding crowd. One older couple hugged each other as their family’s name was called.
On a day with so many citing lessons and quotations from historical icons, Haldorson, holding back tears, shared her favorite from Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
