In a sea of smiles, tears of joy and amid floating balloons of congratulations the sun melted in to the mountains as the 2010 graduating class of Glendale Community College made their mark on June 4.

GCC President Dawn Lindsey warmly, and with great honor, welcomed the graduates, their families and friends.

During the opening of the commencement ceremony Lindsey presented John A. Davit an honorary associates degree.

Slideshow Media Credit: Jennifer Elbe

As keynote speaker Scott Lay, a former community college alumni, and UC Davis law school graduate addressed the graduates and the crowd he reflected on the last 18 years and asked what the next set of challenges will be.

After the speeches were made and the awards presented the degrees were handed out to the graduating class. One by one the graduates proudly marched across the stage to receive that one piece of paper representing years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice.

“A degree is something everyone needs in their life”, graduate of interior architecture Nona Dokhalian said with a smile. “It is huge, self confidence – and the feeling of accomplishment”.

Smiles radiating across the graduate’s faces all told the story of hard work, sacrifice, hope for the future, and their next set of goals.

“The schedule, the papers, the tests” said nursing graduate Jennifer Eclarnal looking back on what it took to achieve this goal, “It’s crazy”.

The favorite moment of Shiori Yamagchi, a business administration graduate, was when she got her certificate on stage. “It was amazing”, she said.

As the sun set the words of former GCC President John A. Davit echoed, “Show them that you have something to offer other than academic book learning.”