First class graduates from McCann School of Business
Their number may have been small, but their sense of accomplishment was anything but.
The nine inaugural graduates of the Carlisle branch of the McCann School of Business and Technology glowed with pride and blinked back tears Thursday night as they walked across the stage at Hotel Carlisle to receive their associate degrees in business administration and medical assisting at the school's first graduation ceremony. Those who received degrees Thursday night were Joan Ellis, William Flemister, Jonda Irvin, Rachel March, Terry Maurice, Rebecca Mountz, Robin Robinson, Rebecca Williams and LeAnne Yacisin.
The school, which opened in November 2009 as the sixth campus of the business and technology school, has since grown its student body from 20 to 400 and its number of programs from three to 16. The graduates who moved the tassels on their caps from right to left were enrollees in two of the three initial programs the Carlisle branch of McCann introduced when it opened.
They were non-traditional students, most of them searching for a new start and a degree that would translate into a career and a more stable future for themselves and for their families.
For her daughter
Take Rebecca Williams, the student speaker selected for the evening, who re-entered the academic arena so she could better provide for herself and her 4-year-old daughter, Olivia.
Trying to juggle a full-time job with child care duties and homework was overwhelming, to say the least, Williams said in her speech. But she'd made a promise to herself that she would graduate - no matter what.
"There were times that I just wanted to give up and quit, but I wasn't going to break my promise to myself," Williams said, stifling tears. "The professors were very understanding and willing to work with me, and I graduated with nothing less than a ‘B' (in each class), which is way better than I ever did in high school."
From one influential professor, Williams said, she'd learned something that extended way beyond whatever she was studying at the moment.
"Walk into every room with a smile on your face and never say you can't... because you can and you did." Later in the program, when Williams stepped off the stage after having received her degree in medical assisting, she was given something far more precious - a hug with a running start from Olivia, the daughter for whom she'd gone back to school.
Family first
Then there was LeAnne Yacisin, the class valedictorian, who is the first person in her immediate family to earn a college-level degree. In addition to that degree, she garnered a well-deserved standing ovation from her brother, John Hunter, who'd driven over from East Berlin to support his sister.
Yacisin's husband passed away more than a year ago, and getting through each day since had been a daunting task.
"She's been through a lot of things over the past 18 months and she was just looking to change her life," Hunter said of his sister. "She's reached a milestone that myself of my brothers and sister never reached. None of us ever graduated high school and at 55, she made a choice to get an education and turn her life around. I'm just so proud of her."
‘More focus'
Williams' and Yacisin's stories and sets of circumstances might be unique, said Carlisle branch campus director Rea Ptacin, but they're not uncommon.
"When you return later in life to redirect and get an education, I think you put more focus on it more than a student who's getting a traditional degree would," Ptacin said.
"We are definitely very proud of our graduates," he added, "and it's remarkable to see even adjunct instructors in attendance and supporting their graduates."
Ptacin said the career-oriented school doesn't stop supporting students once they earn their degrees. Efforts to match them up with good jobs continues through the school's alumni services.
‘Hope and optimism'
Earlier in the ceremony, Cumberland County Commissioner Barbara Cross gave graduates some words to live by and assured them that they had "made a wise investment" that they "would see a return on again and again."
"Hope isn't a plan," Cross added, "but hope and optimism will contribute to the success of your plan."
The original branch of the McCann School of Business and Technology was founded in 1897. The school now offers degrees in business, cosmetic arts, health care, information technology, advertising and design, the legal field and trade industries.
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By Katie Kuba, Sentinel Reporter, September 30, 2011