Hundreds of Yavapai College students reached a significant crossroad on their life journeys this spring -- completing an associate’s degree or earning a career credential – and paused to celebrate their achievements during traditional commencement ceremonies May 15 at Findlay Toyota Center.

Commencement participants represented the college’s wide array of programs, with students celebrating success in nursing, computer and physical sciences, education, electronics, winemaking, horticulture, animal care, performing and visual arts, paramedicine, welding and justice studies, among many others.

YC President Dr. Lisa Rhine, in her commencement remarks, said she was thrilled to be celebrating with graduates in person after "more than a year of isolation, virtual communication and distance." Underscoring the significance of graduation day, Rhine said it was "analogous to the Super Bowl in the NFL and Wimbledon in Tennis. It’s our big day… Students, this day is about you and dreams realized."

Emphasizing the value and power of dreams, Rhine said, "Never let it be said that to dream is a waste of one’s time. For dreams are our realities in waiting. In dreams we plant the seeds of our future. Dreams motivate and inspire. Dreams cause us to persevere under difficult circumstances and dreams create a focus in our lives. Dreams are realized at community colleges."

In his commencement address on behalf of the YC Faculty, Music Professor Dr. Christopher Tenney likened YC graduates’ journeys to the steps of a sonata, saying of the exposition step in which the main character of the piece is introduced, "I see this represented in the lives you’ve led up to your experience at Yavapai College. You’ve worked hard in this first phase of your life to establish an image of yourself that you can rely on. There is stability in this section of the Sonata (and, by extension, your lives)…"

Referring the recapitulation, or the transformative, final section of a Sonata, Tenney reminded graduates they are undergoing a reinvention to "your truest self. And, like the Sonata form, let yourself take a moment to look forward with hope towards the brighter future that you have built for yourself and the world that you will go out into. Thank you for being willing to make this investment towards a better tomorrow."

Brian Moultrup, the morning commencement student speaker and an aspiring U.S. Army Chaplain, shared that YC was his fifth try at college and the first successful one. He explained that he suffered years of addiction fueled by a profound belief that he had nothing to offer the world. Brian credited YC for helping him regain his self-worth with much-needed human interaction and support, with academic and leadership challenges and a wide variety of opportunities for student involvement. "Friends, I am here because of you, the YC family. I am alive because someone answered the phone when I called. I am alive because my family and friends listened and loved me when I thought they didn’t… Maybe today is the beginning of a new chapter for you or you’ve cracked the cover to begin writing a new book. Either way, I encourage you, answer the phone when someone calls, listen when someone cries out and love each other well because opportunity isn’t something we have to do, it’s something we get to do.’

Brittany Thomas, the afternoon commencement student speaker, said she found in YC the "home" she was looking for after years of homeschooling and frequent moves with her U.S. Coast Guard family. An Honors student and All-Arizona Academic Team scholar, Brittany described discovering YC online and then visiting and falling in love with the campus as akin to a life miracle. Yavapai College truly put the community in community college and I felt like a member of their family. I felt that way then, and I still hold that sentiment today."

Brittany thanked each of her YC instructors by name for "making learning exciting, robust and fun." She closed her speech saying she’s optimistic about her dreams of a career advancing animal welfare and environment issues. "Whether or not things go as planned, I trust the process, for I lived a miracle and can live one again."