Thousands Celebrate At MDC Commencement Ceremonies
For Raquel Martinez, graduation seemed impossible this past January.
The 20-year-old Honors College student at Wolfson Campus was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma. She endured grueling, week-long chemotherapy sessions to fight the cancer while juggling five classes this past spring semester.
On April 30, the vivacious scholar was one of more than 14,000 students who graduated from Miami Dade College. Five graduation ceremonies took place throughout the day at the James L. Knight Center and the Kendall Campus Gymnasium.
“I’m glad I managed to come this far and graduate,” said Martinez, who will officially receive her diploma at the end of the summer and continue her studies at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
The atmosphere was festive and even raucous at times during commencement, a culmination of years of academic rigor for the graduates. Students danced to the beat of popular music while waving glow sticks and watching funny videos. More than 131 flags were waved onstage, which represented the diversity of the school’s graduating class.
Big screen TVs featured live tweets of graduates using the #MDCgrad hashtag. The hashtag exceeded six million social media impressions throughout the day.
“You have the power to defy expectations and prove to the world that today’s millennials are tomorrow’s greatest generation,” said Kendall Campus commencement speaker Javier Palomarez, President and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Other speakers included U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, entrepreneur and e-Merge founder Manny Medina, Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Commission Jean Monestime, and newly appointed Medical Campus President Mark Everett.
Graduates reminisced, recalling their challenges and struggles.
“The sleepless nights were the worst part,” said Melissa Registe, who took seven classes each semester at the Hialeah Campus while working two part-time jobs, one at the admissions and registration department on campus and the other at a pharmacy.
In the end, her will to get an education won. Registe, 29, graduated with a bachelor’s degree of applied science in business supervision and management.
Medina, who served as the commencement speaker at the InterAmerican and Homestead Campuses’ graduation ceremony, reminded students of the importance of having the will to succeed and how it can lead them.
“I wouldn’t be here today addressing you if it wasn’t for Miami Dade College,” Medina said. “What you have accomplished today is really the beginning of a very, very successful life.”
Staff writers Alexander Aspuru and Zayrha Rodriguez contributed to this report.
