Many Bakersfield College graduating students this semester will be participating in the graduation ceremony on May 14 in the Memorial Stadium.
According to a graduation candidate letter, Sue Vaughn from office of Admissions and Records, stated that “approximately 1,200 students will be graduating this year and over 500 are participating in the ceremony.”
Sometimes, students don’t participate in the graduation ceremony because they are graduating from a community college.
In a survey of 30 BC students who are graduating, though, they all filed to participate in the ceremony.
Sara Harb, 21, radiology major, said, “students should attend the ceremony because it makes you feel a part of BC and receiving that diploma from the college president is different from receiving it in the mail.”
She also mentioned that participating in the ceremony herself was a way of making her feel a part of the BC family atmosphere the college offers for the years a person is at the college.
Andres Ortiz, 20, Spanish major, is the first from his family to graduate from community college.
“It’s a privilege for being the first from my family to walk down that stage, but it’s also a sense of accomplishment because not many students make that walk in their life,” said Ortiz.
After attending BC for two or three years, students are realizing that all that hard work deserves recognition.
Marisa Bibian, 22, psychology major felt the ceremony is important. “You go to school for so long, take all the classes you need to graduate from BC and the classes for your associate of the arts, you should be recognized and have your family in the stands to celebrate that moment of accomplishment for you, even if it is just a junior college,” said Bibian.
“This is another step toward a person’s education, and they should be super excited to walk and be recognized,” she said.