FORT ST. JOHN – Approximately 500 students at the Fort St. John Campus of Northern Lights College or who were enrolled in online programming were recognized at the annual Convocation ceremony held on June 10 at the Stonebridge Hotel.
Students in 39 program areas were honoured through the conferral of certificates and diplomas.
Susana Tang, a graduate in Business Administration Diploma – Accounting, was named the Valedictorian.
In her valedictory address, Tang, who is from Macao but who has been at NLC for almost four years, recalled how she started in the International Education department, taking English as a Second Language. Then, she moved on to take University Arts and Sciences courses, and she admitted it took a while to get used to the new environment.
“It seemed to me that the instructors spoke very fast, and the other students did too,” Tang said. “It has taken me time to get used to this, but I am getting better.”
And now, Tang is preparing to adapt to another new environment, as she is planning on attending University of Northern British Columbia.
“It will be another new place for me, and I will have to get used to the new environment, and make more new friends,” Tang said.
Keynote speaker for the event was Linda Sewell, a trustee with School District 60, and an NLC graduate in 1988 with an Associate of Arts Degree (with Honours). She recalled her first days at NLC, when she started as a part-time student when the campus was located in the Senior Citizens building.
Sewell congratulated the graduates on the patience and perseverance they have shown to reach this level of success in their lives.
But she encouraged them not to stop here, and gave them some advice on how to strive for further success, including writing down their goals on a regular basis, defining what success means to them, and identifying their “passion”.
“If you discover your passion, that opens the doors to becoming all that you can be,” Sewell said.
Other special guests who brought greetings to the graduates included Fort St. John mayor Bruce Lantz, School District 60 chair Heather Hannaford, NLC Board of Governors chair Edith Leer, and NLC president Laurie Rancourt. A prayer, and a special song by the Northern Lights drummers were also important parts of the ceremony.
The College holds three Convocation ceremonies each year. The Dawson Creek ceremony was held in May. The Fort Nelson ceremony will be held June 17.