By Nathan Duke
The specter of a national economic downturn and gloomy weather did not prevent the 1,600 graduates of Bayside’s Queensborough Community College from remaining festive at the school’s 48th commencement ceremony last week.
The students were packed into a massive tent on the college’s track field along with their parents, teachers, school administrators and borough elected officials, who predicted a challenging and rapidly changing world for the new graduates. But speakers at the ceremony frequently referred to President Barack Obama and his Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina from the Bronx, as role models for the diverse graduating class, which included students from around the world who ranged in age from 19 to 67.
“Among you, there are many new Americans who were born in other countries and came to the United States to start a new life,” Queensborough President Eduardo Marti said. “I want to recognize your courage and the contribution you will make to our society. This is your day, this is your moment.”
Speakers emphasized the triumphant stories of several graduates, including one student who used cue cards of mathematical tables during the beginning of his college career and ended up being able to explain how to transfer energy in a magnetic field to his class. Other students were honored for serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Michael Lorenz, who was awarded the school’s President’s Award for maintaining the highest scholastic average, told the audience his success story.
“When I first came here, I was a D student who almost dropped out of high school,” he said. “This is an environment that pushed me. This school represents something special.”
Lorenz, who had a 4.0 grade point average, has received a scholarship to American University in Washington, D.C., where he will major in political science.
Anthony Angulo, the school’s student body president, received the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award for his community leadership. As he began his speech, a fellow student continued to yell, “I love you, Anthony,” until he eventually responded, “I love you, too.”
“I’m inspired by the hardworking mother who found time to work while taking care of her children and the foreign students whose first language was not English,” he said of his classmates.
Angulo said he was the first member of his family to graduate from college.
A slew of elected officials turned out to pay homage to the graduating class, including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D−N.Y.), U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D−Forest Hills), Borough President Helen Marshall and City Council members David Weprin (D−Hollis) and Eric Gioia (D−Sunnyside).
“There are two tests in life — the Monday morning and Friday tests,” Schumer told the crowd. “If you wake up Monday morning and want to go to work and on Friday you can’t wait to go home to your family, you can’t complain. God has been good to you. My hope is you pass those tests with flying colors.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
