84 students marched to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance before proud family and friends at the twenty-third Mt Sierra College Commencement Ceremony held Thursday, June 25 at the First Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, launching the transition from college students to graduates of Mt Sierra College.
Following the keynote speaker were addresses by President Dr. William Kakish and Provost Dr. Jon Persavich.
Andrew Thompson was a mentor to all of the Game Arts students. During his time as a student at Mt. Sierra he was a tutor and in Animation, Rigging, Sculpting & Level Design. Thompson spoke about all the projects they worked on together at his house, they time they spent creating the most amazing pieces and how he grew a close bond with his classmates. Thompson is currently residing in Vancouver continuing his education at the Vancouver Film Institute as well as working for Industrial Light & Magic.
Laura Angulo is an unbelievable young lady that worked three jobs while attending school. Being in the Information Technology industry, she is one of very few women and has learned to soar in her field of study. Angulo’s goal is to become a Chief Information Officer. She spoke about the impact women have made on the world we live in today and how we have the ability to become successful based on our merits and not judged based on gender. Laura currently is employed with Wilcon, the premier West Coast provider of best-in-class fiber optic and data center infrastructure solutions helping to enable the digital future.
“Today we gather as an eclectic bunch. Some, like myself, are the nerds that will troubleshoot and fix. Some are the artists that will envision, creating marketing collateral that will attract consumers. Others are the speculators that will reason, helping to keep this world functioning,” said Angulo
Shawn Olandesca Flores, was most notably known on campus as a worker for the Student Services Department on campus.
“In the words of one of my favorite hip hop artists, Ab-Soul, “We’ll rise, change lives, break ties from the everyday lies, it’s not time until it’s our time,’ and this is our time, because the best is yet to come,” said Flores.
Betty Gallaher stood before her peers, delivering a speech that brought many to tears.
She shared a glimpse of her life with all that attended, expressing the many obstacles she overcame: being the first in her family to graduate high school and now the first to graduate college. Leaving her life in West Virginia to break the cycle and continue on with her dreams. She is a complete inspiration that anything is possible and that the box of crayons her parents bought her was worth it. She is currently working for BC Design Haus, a strategic design and branding firm that specializes in meaningful brand and design solutions for start-ups and global companies. During her time at Mt. Sierra she won the Academic Excellence Scholarship and was on the Dean’s list for several terms. Betty will always be known as a great tutor for Adobe software.
“Thank you to the professors at Mt Sierra for always pushing not only me, but all of us, to our limits and seeing what we couldn’t always see in ourselves,” said Gallaher.
As eyes were dried, and friends and family applauded the heart-touching speech, the moment all anticipated finally arrived.
Provost Jon Persavich, Ph.D., conferred the degrees, and Associate Dean of Academics Tim Botengan read the names of the students aloud as they walked across the stage in their moment of glory. Graduates turned their tassels from right to left, symbolically officiating themselves as graduates of Mt. Sierra College.
Graduates exited the sanctuary in pride, as family, friends, and all who attended cheered for the former students about to embark in a new beginning.
