The Esperanza Center was packed with people and bristling with excitement on the evening of Friday, Dec. 1 as our community gathered to celebrate the most recent graduates of Esperanza College of Eastern University. At the Commencement ceremony, 28 graduates received their Associate’s degrees in the areas of Accounting, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Health Sciences, and Medical Assisting.
“It is a pleasure for Esperanza and Eastern University to gather and to celebrate each and every one of you,” said Rev. Danny Cortes, Executive Vice President of Esperanza and Chair of the College Council. “We pray that you will continue to study and to improve your lives and the lives of those around you for years to come.”
Leah Negron, the valedictorian, emphasized the graduates’ diligence in her address. “You have gone to school in between working and taking care of family, and there were most likely times you wanted to give up, when it wasn’t easy to get that paper done or stay up late to study for that upcoming test, but you did it,” she said. “You persevered and it paid off.”
Scores of family members and friends attended the graduation ceremony, and they clapped and cheered as their loved ones crossed the stage to receive their degrees. Ms. Negron underscored the important contributions that the people in the audience made to the achievements that were being recognized.
“In this country, we believe that achievement belongs to one person, but it does not,” she noted. “Achievement belongs to our families, to our communities, to our friends who we walk with.”
Ms. Negron was optimistic about her class’s prospects in the future and encouraged her classmates to celebrate with gratitude and hopefulness: “Congratulate yourself on a job well done and as you revel in your accomplishments, remember to thank God, He is most certainly not done with you yet.”
Congratulations to the Esperanza College December 2017 graduates!
