GREENFIELD — Two hundred ninety-two Greenfield Community College students officially became alumni at a time when community colleges are essential to the workforce.
That’s what Patricia Marshall of the state Department of Higher Education told the college’s graduates as they marked the end of this chapter in their lives.
They will become nurses, computer programmers, accountants and much more. On that grassy green Saturday, Marshall, the deputy commissioner for academic affairs and student success, thanked them for their efforts. Many community college graduates go on to work in the very state they went to school in, and therefore, Marshall said, fuel the local economy.
“We can all take pride in the fact that Massachusetts leads the nation with 51 percent of adults holding college degrees,” Marshall said.
And the students did take pride. As they marched across the stage, clad in the traditional caps and gowns, they waved to friends and family and fondly shook hands with their professors.
Student speaker and 2018 graduate of the nursing program Melissa Osborne exuded a sense of accomplishment as she spoke to the crowd, having earned her second degree at the school.
Humbly, Osborne made clear that the momentous accomplishment could not have been achieved without the help of the school’s staff, students and her own family.
“Greenfield Community College has been a second family to me,” said Osborne, who lost her mother to cancer while she attended the school. The school helped her through her troubles, and allowed her to take time off during a semester to grieve, and again later when she gave birth to her daughter.
“Family can recognize your weaknesses and step in to provide the support you need when you need it. I sure did need it,” Osborne said. “Life happens, and I believe the resiliency I have is a testament to the support of my family.”
Osborne was emotional during her speech, as were several of her fellow students, who clearly related to her sense of having completed an arduous journey.
With her fiancée and two children, Osborne plans on staying in the area and making Franklin County a better place. She told her classmates she’s happy to think they’ll do the same.
“To the nursing class: I’m honored to be in a place where you all will be living and learning,” Osborne said.
Robert Pura, giving comments at the school’s 55th commencement ceremony — and at the end of his 18th and final year as Greenfield Community College president — also expressed pride, not only for the graduates themselves, but for the faculty who’ve guided them through the last several years.
“Your achievement is also a reflection of your teachers, the faculty and staff of GCC. Each has come to this college because of you. GCC faculty and staff are wonderful scientists and researchers, paramedics and police officers, nurses and doctors, poets, accountants and artists, but they see themselves first as teachers,” Pura said.
He continued: “It was the faculty and staff of GCC who saw your potential — often before you did — and together you have worked to achieve it.”
Accounting: Samantha Gorzocoski
Business and Information Technology: Teodor Radev
Criminal Justice: Marcus Johansson
Drama Award: Eaden Marti
Liberal Arts/Dance: Annie Pollack & Eva Sagan
Early Childhood Education: Genevieve Wentzel-Smith
Liberal Arts/English: Carissa Fuller
International Student Scholastic Achievement Award: Mahendra Sapkota
Liberal Arts/Social Sciences: Chelsea Ellsworth & Kaitlyn Cawthorn
Nursing: For excellence in nursing care: Amy Wood
Nursing: For academic excellence: Michelle Paulin
Donald Oberacker Liberal Arts/Science: Justin Roch
Liberal Arts: Helen Murphy
The Charles Green Award: Dadrian Bernard
GREENFIELD COMMUNITY COLLEGE 2018 GRADUATES
Laura Ruth Addabbo
Andrey Andreyevich Agapov
David Ahlberg
Joel D. Aiken, Sr.
Katrina Marie Aldrich
Claire L. Allen
Zachary T. Allis
Emily E. Almeida
Caleb Angell
Caitlyn J. Arellano
Anna Ashe-Simmer
Jacob L. Atomanuk
Jarrett M. Austin
Margaret A. Awan
Amy Lee Baker
Kayley Marie Bartak
Josette Claire Bartley
Lauren K. Bennett
Dadrian Bernard
Vanessa M. Berthiaume
Ryan Bezio
Hillary Bidwell
Amanda Rose Binette
Andrew Blake
Yotam Block
Jamie Bolduc
Taylor Boutwell
Elizabeth Noelle Breault
Barbara Jayne Broussard
Grafton Brown
Marc Brown
Lynden Bunker
Chad M. Butler
Johnathan Cagle
Maia Callahan
Pisey Caloon
Jason Cambra
David Caplice
Patrick B. Capparrille
Cale J. Carney
Linda Carpenter
Gabriel Carreiro
Kaitlyn Marie Cawthorn
Isabella Céspedes-Ashe
Aliona Cheptea
Tenzin Chokey
Tala Chunga
Kathleen Cimino
Abigail Howe Clarke
Amanda Cleary
Neal Colburn
Aidan Connelly
Nicholas Dean Constantilos
Sarah Cook
Olatunde Cooper
Keith Cotnoir
Felicia Marie Craver
Holly Cronin
Andrew William Dagarin
Victoria Anne Dalton
Viorica Darii
Carley Amber Davis
Michelle Dawicki
Nicholas Dawson
Brittany Deats
Ioannis Diakolambrianos
Ashley Dion
Colby Dobias
Kyle Patrick Dragon
Robert Dragon
Nicole Dresser
Megan Duga
Jessica Lynn Dupré
Danyelle Earnest-Higgins
Geoffrey Ellis
Chelsea Lee Ellsworth
Brittany Marie Emerson
Jasmine Farr-Marcum
Igor G. Federyuk
Tyffani Marie Felisko
Benjamin Fellows
Rebecca A. Felton
Michael S. Feyre
Cody W. Fifield
Megan Finnell
Alan Prescott Fish
Carissa Ann Fuller
Stephanie Lynn Funk
Costanza Fusco
Kelly M. Ghiz
Nicolas I. Glassman Carmona
Evan Gold
Susannah M. Goodale
Samantha Nicole Gorzocoski
Danielle K. Grenier
Binayak Gurung
Pratik Gurung
Carrie L. Hale
Aubrey Halket
Katie V. Halkett
Ann M. Hallenbeck
Benjamin Harrington
Elliot Hartmann-Russell
Tyler Harwood
Abbey Leigh Hathaway
Jack Hebert
Jordan Helzer
MaKayla Hicks
Melinda S. Hodgkins
James Hokonya
Stephanie A. Hopkins
Melanie Howard
Molly Susan Howe
Samuel Douglas Howe
Ethan Hurlburt
Catherine Jane Hyer
Nathan W. Jackman
Nathan Jepsen
Marcus Johansson
Bonnie Jean Augusta Johnson
Rowan Levi Jones
Danielle C. Kaiser
Andrew J. Karcz
Helene Rose Kasper
Lydia Anne Kasper
Cassandra D. Kazar
Maya Kazinskas
Jared Nicholas Kellogg
Erin N. Kerdavid
David Kida
Anne W. Kimani
Blake Kimball
Pamela Ann Kimball
Kouame, Konan Jean-Dominique
Juthamas Kuldiloke
Felicia Kunesch
Tammy B. LaChance
Jodi E. Lachance
Emily Lachapelle
Katelyn Jeanne Laclaire
Cara Leach
Daniel Lee
Alyse Jody Leonard
Evan John Lesenski
Seth D. Licata
Virginia Irene Lingwall
Francesca Mahaney
Joseph A. Mancino
Sarah Lynn Marshall
Eaden Marti
Thomas Mashrick
Xiomara Nina Matathias
Jacqueline R. Mathers
Jeffrey P. McAndrews
Jacqueline McMillan
Kyle Paul McWherter
Brandon Patrick McMahon
William E. Meese
Alejandra Mercado
Brittany Marie Miller
Joshua R. Miller
Scott Miner
Sandra Mizula
Rebecca Suzannw Moretti
Jonathan B. Moriarty
Helen Murphy
Stephen P. Murray
Elena Naryzhnaya
Darlene Negron
Justin Nigrelli
Kaylea Ruth Niles
Paul “Pete” T. Norwood
Jesse Olson
Madeleise Ortiz
Melissa Ann Osborne
Arianne E. Page
Joseph Page
See Kyung Pak
Melissa Pariseau
Michelle R. Paulin
Matthew Pellegrini
Maxwell J. Pellerin
Denis Pelletier
Toni Peters
Kyla Phoenix
Tsering Phuntsok
Brittany Pickunka
Ashley Pierce
Amanda Plasse
Annie Pollak
Daniel Postema
Kelli Poulin
Teodor N. Radev
Bambi D. Rawlings-Chamberlin
Justin C. Roch
Nino Rodriguez
Alexander Rome
Joshua J. Romeo
Emma K. Rosenthal
Noah Rosner
Jessica Lynn Routier
Gabrielle Roy
Karlyn Russ
Dustin K. Russo
Daniel Rutledge
Yvette Ryles
Eva Marie Sagan
Sierra Sanborn
Mahendra Sapkota
Shawn Savasuk
Kyle G. Sawin
Lastone Saya
Betty Schneider
Daniel Schott
Kelsey Tyler Scranton
Julia Tamsin Shaw
Jessica Renee Shelkey
Meghan-Grace Slocombe
Todd Smith
Hannah R. Sol
Lorenzo Joseph Sordoni III
Rebecca Mona Spradley
Alyzsa Sprague
Jacob E. Steeves
Tatyana Stepchuk
Viktoriya Stepchuk
Myisha Stephens
Emily Stone
Olga Lucia Stowe
David R. Strong
Seamus Sullivan
Hannah Swain
Jeffrey Szelewicki
Alina Tahij
Elena Tahij
Ana Taraburca
Jasper Temple
Megan Tidlund
Alexander David Tirrell
Norah M.Tower
Eric Tuvell
Kiefer Tyrrell
Michael Vancott
Angela Vias
James R. Vollinger
Emily Jane Walker
Oliver Walz
Laura J. Ward
Samuel C. Weaver
Erin Webster
Navi Weiss
Sarah Amadea Wennemyr
Genevieve Wentzel-Smith
Tyler Andrew Wheelock
Kori N. Wileman
Matthew Williams
Shari A. Williams
Stephanie Williams
Eric J. Wilson
Amy L. Wood
Randi Wyngowski
Namgyal Yangzom
Autumn E. Ylvisaker
Alejo Torres Zacarias
Sarah Eve Zimm
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.