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May. 19, 2011
The Garrett Highlands Pipes and Drums led the academic procession for the 39th commencement ceremony at Garrett College on Saturday.
Following an invocation by Elizabeth Grant, director of liberal arts and justice studies, President Richard L. MacLennan welcomed all in attendance and addressed the students.
“You have worked hard to get here today but you were not alone. You had the support of others,” he said, and then asked parents, grandparents, spouses, and children of the graduates to stand and be acknowledged.
Dr. MacLennan then rec-ognized the role of the faculty and staff in preparing the students for this achievement.
“Today we honor 106 graduates. The youngest is 19 and the oldest is 66,” he noted. “Those of you who are transferring to other colleges may be interested to know that last year Garrett College transfer students earned a grade point average of 3.5 at their new institutions. This is higher than the averages for students from any other community college in Maryland.”
William B. Grant, pres-ident and CEO of First United Bank & Trust, delivered the commencement address. He drew upon the visual image of the mountaintop as the focus of his comments.
“Each of you has been to the mountaintop, both literally and figuratively,” he said.
Continuing with his theme, Grant explained that people are drawn to mountains for three reasons: challenge, perspective, and change.
“Attending college and in life, preparation is needed for the prospect of success,” he said. He compared the mountain climbers’ base camp for preparation to the mentoring and assessments provided by faculty and staff before the student begins the journey.
“Today you stand at your summit. Those who have gone before you left lines to help you climb. You now have an obligation to hold out those lines to the students who come after you,” he said.
The graduates, Grant said, have also achieved new perspectives on the moun-taintop.
“Your vision is wider than ever before,” he said. “You have a completely new view of the world.”
He encouraged the grad-uates to help others as they move forward in life.
“You are at a mountaintop in life, and there will be many more mountaintops for you,” he concluded.
Dr. George Brelsford, dean of student life, introduced Catherine Patterson of Bowie to give the student address. She was selected for this honor because of her outstanding accomplishments while at GC, he explained.
“Catherine has made the dean’s list each semester at Garrett College,” he said. “She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, is the sophomore representative in the Student Government Association, and was recently named to the All-USA, All-Maryland Academic Team.”
Patterson, an adventure sports major, carries a 3.77 GPA. She spoke about ask-ing for advice from others on her speech for graduation and getting lots of different opinions. She said she came to the conclusion that in this instance, as in so many, “one needs to go where one’s heart leads.”
So she opened her address with a quote: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
She explained that the quote was from her favorite author, Dr. Seuss.
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