I graduated from Northland Pioneer College on Saturday, May 19, 2012 with my Associates of Applied Science in Welding. Honestly, it wasn't that exciting at all. I had already decided to receive my degree within the two years of being apart of Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of technology (NAVIT) Welding and I did. I wasn't shocked or excited, just stressed. Stressed about being late for the graduation, getting ready on time, making sure everyone has their ticket to get into the graduation, and most importantly, making sure I had enough tickets for everyone that showed up.
A month ago, before my graduation when I first received my tickets, I had a list of everyone I wanted to be there and I was set. I had notified everyone, but as we all know things don't always go as planned.So my best friend and sister couldn't make it because of work, which was okay due to I ended up receiving two tickets less than I expected. But the day of graduation, one of my aunts brought her friend and my uncle and his family were coming and I just didn't have enough tickets for everyone and I didn't really want to have to decide who could show up and who couldn't. So somehow, I don't know how, they all got in which was a great thing. The down side was the wait. I am not a big fan of waiting and being patience, especially when I have no choice but to wait.
I had to check-in, dressed and ready to graduate. We had to check-in two hours before the actual graduation started. So I was going in and out of the "check-in" location and talking with the other graduating NAVIT welders from both St. Johns and Snowflake, I was the only NAVIT student welder from Holbrook graduating. It wasn't so bad because I knew them a little bit because we had all competed against one another in both the regional and state welding Skills USA competition this year. The two hours seemed to have taken much longer and the room slowly began to fill up more and more, until finally I heard, "NPC Graduates of 2012, may I have your attention please." We all looked towards the center of the room, then instructed to line up according to our degrees, so we did. And waited some more.
Finally, it was "time", time to walk down the aisle to be seated, time to search for our family and friends in the crowd, and time to do some more waiting. We sat and listened to the welcome address in five different languages, the choir sing, the keynote speaker speak, the outstanding students speak, the college hand out different awards to certain students, then finally the heading out and receiving of our diplomas.
It wasn't until I handed them my name card and standing on stage within a few feet of receiving my diploma I realized I finally did it. I placed sixth out of about fifty high school welders at the Skills USA competition. I placed second in the state of Arizona on our Career and Technical Education (CTE) exam for welding that all seniors take that participated in any CTE program. And finally, the fact that I am about to receive my degree in welding.
Even after realizing my accomplishments with welding, it still felt like nothing. After the day was over with, I wondered, "When will it mean something besides nothing?" I can't answer right now but I can not wait to find out. For now, it'll be seating in my room until the day I need it. I feel relieve today but I still have one more graduation this Friday from my high school and expecting it to have a much bigger and more meaningful impact on me. After spending four years with wonderful classmates and friends along with amazing teachers helping me along the way, Friday, please come fast!
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