Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Welcome graduates, Merced College Board of Trustees, friends and families
to the 48th annual commencement of Merced Community College District.
Hello my name is Chris ***. I would like to congratulate the class of 2011 for their hard work
leading to this wonderful event. It is my privilege to speak to you tonight about my own journey as a
Merced College graduate.
When I was born I had been diagnosed with a condition called Cerebral Palsy,
which is a medical condition which causes abnormal movement throughout the body.
In the early stages of detection, I had seen many doctors that said,
“That I could not walk, talk, speak or move”.
The best outlook that they had come up with was wheelchair bound for the rest of my life
but that has not happened as you can see for yourself today.
Since that time, I went on not knowing what I will become
or what were the challenges I face until this time, and I have succeed all of them through today.
All throughout my educational career I have had teachers that didn't think that
I can
complete their grade level but I am here now.
In my final years of high school I had many teachers who thought that I could attend a community college
but I did not think that I could go on because of the academic workload,
language barriers, social issues, and so forth.
I picked Merced College because I had some prior knowledge about the campus and and the programs.
I decided that one of my strengths in life was computers.
I had another dream
career in mind of becoming a SeaWorld Shamu Trainer
(but It wasn't a very good idea, a 6+ ton killer whale in water and me).
So instead, I will be graduating with honors with a 3.59 GPA,
here tonight at Merced College with an Associates of Arts degree in Computers/Networking.
I am also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
Of course this success is not mine alone: I thank the faculty, staff, and above all God for these things.