Staff photo by EMILY BARNES
The College of Southern Maryland graduates listen as U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Howard gives the address during the 13th Winter Commencement at the College of Southern Maryland La Plata campus last week.
Southern Marylanders from different walks of life came together for a common purpose last week as some 500 College of Southern Maryland students received an associate degree or certificate Thursday.
“This is an amazing feat,” college President Brad Gottfried said during the 13th winter commencement ceremony held at the La Plata campus.
Of the graduates, 43 percent hail from Charles County, 31 percent from St. Mary’s and 23 percent from Calvert.
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Howard, chief of staff to the director for strategic plans and policy for Joint Staff, gave the keynote address and told students always to be prepared for success, as they do not get to pick the moment they will succeed.
Howard explained that she didn’t realize her moment of success would come while commanding Combined Task Force 151 on the USS Boxer. She coordinated a rescue mission for Capt. Ricahrd Phillips, who was held captive by three Somali pirates in 2009.
Howard is the first African-American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. She is also the first woman gaduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to become an admiral.
Howard said sometimes success comes in small doses, but however it comes, “prepare and be ready for when success is thrust upon you.”
Gottfried said many of the graduates balanced families, work and other life obstacles on top of being students.
He encouraged graduates to continue learning beyond graduation and continue growing in their education.
Graduate Susan T. Kruszka, 64, of Waldorf has been taking college courses since the 1970s and Thursday night earned two degrees from her accumulated credits from CSM, Northern Virginia Commuity College and the University of Maryland.
Kruszka said she took courses over the years for many reasons.
Several courses she took to better her career as a cartographer with the National Geospatial Intelligance Agency, where she worked for 40 years.
Kruszka said she loved nautical charting and when she started “everything was done by hand.”
As computers came more into play with her job, her college courses helped as technology advanced.
Some classes Kruszka said she took for no specific reason.
She continued with her education after retiring and after a stroke caused her to have to learn how to walk and talk again.
Encouragement from her family kept her on her educational path.
Kruszka said many of her family members graduated from CSM and even her grandson, Vinnie, graduated recently from the college’s early learning center.
She said she enjoyed the staff and students at CSM.
“I’m going to miss interacting with people,” Kruszka said.
Kruszka won’t venture far from CSM, as she plans to take a class on quilting, a hobby she said she has always been interested in.
Many graduates plan to their degrees to better their current career, such as Carol Luskey, 24, of Welcome, a business analyst who received an associate degree in accounting.
Luskey is working on a bachelor’s, and said, aside from boosting her career, she decided to go back to school and get a degree to show her daughter the importance of a college education.
Ashley Tayman, 24, of Mechanicsville is a Head Start teacher. She received an associate degree in early childhood education Thursday.
Tayman said CSM is “a great starter school. It wasn’t too big or too stressful.”
St. Mary’s County Board of Education member Mary Washington said before the graduation that CSM is a wonderful opportunity for students and even parents.
“It’s economical, it’s accessible, affordable and gives students more time to mature,” she said.
Washington said one big benefit to CSM is that credits transfer to University of Maryland System schools.
“You can’t lose if you go to CSM,” she said.
One student who is well on her way is 18-year-old Alyson Dodson of Park Hall.
Dodson was the youngest among the evening’s graduates; she began taking classes while she was in high school.
Dodson said she would recommend high school students getting an early start on college credits while still in high school.
“It’s half price and you get credits for high school and college,” she said.
She earned an associate degree in general studies and is now a junior at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Many families came out to support their loved ones on graduation night. Yung Ekundayo Davies, 4, was front and center in the audience waiting for his mom, Trichana Davies, 29, of Prince Frederick, to graduate.
Ekundayo said the whole process of school, “was tough.”
Like a good son, Ekundayo helped his mom with her homework. He said he is very proud of his mom.
As for his dad, Tokunbo Davies, “He thinks it’s pretty cool,” Ekundayo said.
Davies said he was very proud of his wife for her accomplishment and said his son was a big help with her getting an associate degree in nursing.
Davies said his wife was like many of the graduates who return to school after taking a break. He said she was balancing school along with being a nurse technician and a full-time mom.
“I can’t help but be nothing but proud,” he said.
gphillips@somdnews.com
The following local students at the College of Southern Maryland were recognized as candidates for associate’s degrees or certificates:
Charles County
Accokeek Carmelino P. Balacuit and Thomas X. Green.
Bel Alton Jennifer Ann Foster and Paul Nicholas Sanford.
Benedict Forrest Leonard Freeland III.
Brandywine Melissa Marie Shanks.
Bryans Road Keith L. Carter, Charles Michael Donaldson III, Melissa A. Johnson, Sarah Nicole Kemmerer, Stephanie Kuhn, Lucie S. Lavarn, Kelly D. Lewis, Benjamin Gerd Mrongowius, Mia Jayde Pierre, Adnan Zaheer Qureshi, Juanette O. Sullivan and Jeffrey Allan Sweeney Jr.
Bryantown Cali Rose Tucker.
Charlotte Hall Megan Leigh Cooksey, Laura Jeanette Durner, Kelly Victoria Gerrie and Mary Geneva Yates.
Cobb Island Kimberly Shawna Johnston.
Hughesville Whitney B. Burch, Kimberly Jane Deavers, Constantinos S. Galiatsatos, Morgan P. Griffiths, Steven Michael Grinder, Carla C. Hall, Melissa Rachel Reyes Kang, Christopher J. Kreilick, Kathryn A. Kreilick, Harold P. De Lauder, Hannah Mae Montgomery, Sabrina Earlene Richards, Christopher Joseph Santiago and David Lee Windsor Jr.
Indian Head Rashaunda K. Bowman, Crystal L. Butler, Mary Ellen Chapman, Brenda Cruz, Stephen William Galvin, Adrienne Christina Hines, Joshua James Lisi, Courtney Rae Lough, Jessica N. Luttrell, Miriam Aguilar Rincon and James Edward Wareham.
Issue Kristin M. Lake.
La Plata Olayemi Ayabode Adedoja, Danielle Marie Bailey, Ariel Marie Baker, Angel Annelis Negroni Borandi, Donald O. Butler III, Christopher Patrick Chapman, Marie A. Clarke, John Michael Crawford, Crystal Marie Cromwell, Mary Ann Douglass, David Downs Jr., William Francis Fitzpatrick III, Steven W. Fugate, Susan Gage Gilson, Alyssa Rochelle Helland, Michelle Cathryn Henderson, Kathryn Hupp, Vernell P. Jones, Kelly Keelan, Jacob A. Kiessling, Lindsay Brooke Longshore, Melinda Mellott, Lissa Nackley, Amanda Michele Norris, Jessica Lynn Osborne, Denise L. Perillo, Tamera Lynn Porter, Constance Renea Righter, Mark Bennett Rose, Derek Aaron Smoot Jr., Rose M. Spriggs, Nereida Tellechea, Kiersten Renee' Thompson, Madeleine C. Walter, Veronica Dacey Weimert, Mary Katherine Welch and John Darren Yates Jr.
Marbury Whitney Paige Muenze.
Mechanicsville Terri L. Buckler.
Nanjemoy Tiffany M. Burch, Andrew Furr, Kodie LeAnne Hayes and Farrah Y. Proctor-Darbo.
Newburg Benjamin Joshua King Buchanan, Lisa Ann Golway and Robin L. Long.
Pomfret Sarah N. Cave, Sonya J. Kegg, Sarah B. Toribio and Meredith Makensey Wagner.
Port Tobacco Rikki L. Blanchard and Camila Gimenez Fraiz.
Swan Point Melissa Gomez and Lindsey Michelle Gregor.
Waldorf Daniel A. Adedeji, Jennifer L. Akowskey, Karen Lorena Amaya, Sarah C. Arneson, Jennifer A. Austin, Helen Marie Banting, India Mahogany Barnes, Anthony James Barrell, Breanna Simone' Beckham, Kyle O. Beuchert, Michael R. Bowersox, Kara Elizabeth Bracey, Britni Andrea Briscoe, Jasmine D. Britt, Andrea Linette Brower, Tiera Latrice Buchanan, Michael F. Burger, Mary A. Butler, Jordan Alexandra Chapman, Richard Travess Conway, Damonica L. David, Paul-Michael Davis, Sabine Dorestal, Sharma L. Egner, Christopher Henry Elliott, Menen Zipporah Emanuel, Shannon F. Fletcher, Reginald Andrew Forbes, Atlas Andrew Ford, Sarah Elizabeth Gesl-Spencer, Dana Nicole Gillum, Tammi Terril Gordon, Patrick Leo Greer, William David Grimes, Jacquelyn Gabrielle Grissett, Neil Hawkins, Kimberly Ann Hemsley, Dea'Junea Sylvia Hodge, Alan C. Hovis, Tawanya Nicole Hutchins, Nasear N. Jones, Terrance Carlyle Key, Richard A. Leigh, Melva L. Massey, Leslie A. McBroom, Chelsea Mignon McLaughlin, Barbara Ann McShea, Alisha Z. Mills, Elijah M. Muriuki, Jeremy Richard Neff, Dylan A. O'Brien, William J. Panitz, Robert H. Polis, Brittany Danielle Price, Snezana Racic, Michelle Lynne Ramos, Sarah Catherine Reed, Michael Vernon Rhoades, Shireen Richardson, Diondrea M. Ricks, Jeannie Cecilia Riley, Sara Rose Rzechula, Beenish Safdar, Tyvese Christine Savoy, Homer V. Sepnio, Brian Joseph Shallue, Michelle Simonds, Amy Bailey Smith, Julie Mae Smith, Sarah Catherine Smith, Alberta E. Sollers, Djoulde Sow, Randolph L. Sullivan, Betty Jane Tennison, LaQunda J. Taylor, Alvin Pernell Thomas II, Marcus E. Thomas, Lea Nicole Kinsey Thompson, Christel Linette Tibbs, Heather A. Tolson, Diana L. Tomasello, Jacqueline Z. Vasquez, Jennifer Jean Wagner, Richard E. Watson, Benjamin J. Weeks and Courtney Nicole Michelle Witt.
Welcome Amanda Rose Gilroy and Carol Lynn Luskey.
White Plains Alicia Corinne Beale, Kevin Thomas Brannan, April Diane Burroughs, Casey J. Davis, D'Andre Matthew Gibbs, Angelina Marie O'Leary, Michele Denise Corley, Kelli Michelle Davis, Hassan El Sayed, Zachary Andrew Gromen, Nicole Marie Grusholt, Joshua A. Harkelroad, Nayeli Villarreal Hernandez, Patricia Lynn Johnson-Madden, Sandra Ivette Richardson, Felicia A. Spruill and Lateisha Nicole Thompson.
Prince George’s County
Brandywine Nicole C. Bradshaw and Lori Lynn Goldsmith.
Capitol Heights Saundra E. Brown.
Cheltenham Deborah A. Araujo.
Clinton Olubunmi Temitope Adeleke, Stephanie Marie Chappell and Omar Irvin.
Fort Washington Maya Sharell Banks, Christina A. Brown, Christopher Patrick Chapman, Claudell Immanuel Clarence Ellis and Davis U. Luceriaga.