Flexibility, opportunity, affordability - first grads tout Erie's new community college
Erie County Community College is gearing up to celebrate its first group of graduates in just a few short days. In an event to be held on Saturday, June 3, we will celebrate this big milestone with 28 students as they participate in our first commencement ceremony.
The theme for this event is "Firsts" since we are Erie County's first community college getting ready to confer the first degrees on our first graduates. This is at the core of our mission, and it's the event to which all the hard work of our students, faculty, staff, and community has been leading over these past two years.
Did I mention this is BIG? Yes, it is, and the excitement among our students is palpable. It's downright contagious, in fact. Our students are so proud of their achievements, and we are thrilled to share in their glory as they cross that stage to accept their degrees and certificates.
We all know the common reasons why students choose community colleges: flexible scheduling, affordability, career advancement and training, transfer opportunities, smaller class sizes, lifelong personal development, and more. The reasons are myriad, but they all share the common theme of students taking the first steps to pursue a goal that is, literally, life-changing. We have been collecting these stories over the past two years to chronicle the way in which EC3 changed their lives, and I'm committed to sharing these stories with our community.
There is one student named Michelle whose life will never be the same. Recently, I spoke to her about her decision to try EC3. She is a returning student and until EC3, she thought that a college education was not an option for her. When I spoke to Michelle, she said, "What made me want to attend EC3? There were two reasons. The first was the free tuition for Erie County residents. The second reason was the ability to attend college classes online. I am a single mom with a toddler who is handicapped and due to medical appointments, I would not be able to attend a more traditional college setting in person. I would not be able to achieve an associate degree unless this option was available for me and the residents of Erie County. And due to the high cost of other colleges in our area, this simply was not going to be a reality for me."
There were so many obstacles in Michelle's path, and yet she found a way. EC3 helped her to begin the process of making her dreams a reality. We celebrate her on Saturday.
Another student candidly shared with me the ways in which he struggled to find a place to fit in. Feeling stuck in a job but unsure what to do to change trajectory, he came to us unsure of where to start but with a single, big goal in mind: "I wanted to grow and change my career path. EC3 provided opportunities to me that made this possible." Changing jobs is hard; changing careers is monumentally more difficult, but he trusted us to help begin that process and is on the way to a new, different, and better life. One step at a time, as the saying goes, and EC3 has been a part of his journey from the beginning. We celebrate him also.
We celebrate all of EC3’s first graduates!
As I've said before, we truly are the community's college, and we all celebrate the way in which our community is enriched by the achievements that our new graduates have earned through their study, sacrifice, work, and dedication. On Saturday, we will see them and many others revel in much-deserved recognition, and I, for one, cannot wait.
As a reminder, the ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 3, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Erie West location, 2403 W. Eighth St., and more details can be found on our graduation page, https://www.ecccpa.org/graduation/. Our first graduates and I hope to see you there. Please join the celebration!
Chris Gray, Ph.D., is the founding president of the Erie County Community College of Pennsylvania.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County's new community college graduates first class on June 3
