Ahead of Saturday evening’s commencement ceremony, one of three held for California State University, Bakersfield graduates over the weekend, nursing students Kira Swope, Samantha Parks and Rachelle Hepner were taking in the final moments before the rest of their lives started. Within the next two hours, they and their peers would cross the stage, turn their tassels and close this chapter of their lives.
“I’m relieved, but it’s also nerve-wracking,” Swope, 22, said. “Because now we’re thrown into the deep end. I’ve been a student my whole life, that’s all I’ve known. Starting my career, it’s a whole new persona. It’s also very exciting.”
She wasn't the only one feeling a little anxious about the future, but the overwhelming energy at the ceremony was one of excitement and pride. More than 1,600 students attended ceremonies over the weekend, with graduate students from the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering walking on Friday evening and undergraduates from the school walking on Saturday evening.
“The students who will cross this stage in a few moments have triumphed over challenges that no one could have imagined when they started their college journey,” President Lynnette Zelezny told the crowd. “Students, you have defined resilience.”
Going through nursing school in the middle of a pandemic definitely required perseverance for the three nursing students and the others in their cohort. It was tough work, involving online classes and virtual simulations before hospitals allowed on-site clinicals again, but it paid off: Swope will be a medical-surgical nurse at Adventist Health, Parks will be joining the intensive care unit at Dignity Health and Hepner, though not yet hired at a local hospital, is eager to get to work in an emergency department.
“We have a lot to prove now,” Parks, 34, said. “I started in 2005, so it’s been a long time! I’m ready for it.”
“We still have so much to learn!” Hepner, 41, added. “I’m excited but a little overwhelmed too. It’s going to be good.”
Like the nursing cohort, this year’s geology graduates are also a tight-knit group. Sitting in the back rows during the ceremony, these students don’t have to say goodbye just yet. They are each heading to field camps in late May, the last requirement for their degree. Michael Hernandez, 22, is one of five who will spend the next few weeks in Wyoming.
“We’re not done yet, so we can’t celebrate yet,” he said. “This is a pre-celebration!”
As a transfer student coming to CSUB from Bakersfield College during the pandemic, Hernandez’s time at the school felt short, he said. Even in the limited time he had on campus, though, he quickly made friends in the department. He said he rated the overall experience “a 10 out of 10.”
Prabhjot Dhillon (or Raj, as he is known to his classmates) will also be heading to Wyoming. A transfer student from Taft College, Dhillon is hoping to find work after his field camp experience is over.
“I’m very happy to graduate and thrilled to start my career,” Dhillon, 30, said. “It took a long time to get here, but with the support of my family, friends and professors, I was able to accomplish my goals.”
Addressing the graduates, Dr. Zelezny again praised their determination to overcome any obstacles in their path and finish their education.
“In the future when you look back at this time of your life, you may wonder how you did it, how you stayed focused when so many others could not find a way forward,” she said. “But there is no mystery: you did it because you are strong. Because you showed incredible grit and grace in the face of every challenge. You did it because you never forgot why you came to CSUB in the first place: to expand the horizon of hope for yourselves and your families. And because you wanted this day. And now this day is here!”
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