The Moment Where Creativity Meets Career: F.I.R.S.T. Institute Graduation 7/13/17
The moment you turn your tassel with your diploma in hand, you’re not thinking about your grade on Quiz 7, or the hours of sleep you lost trying to balance work, school, and your internship. You think about the instructor who tutored you for Quiz 7, the classmates that kept you awake in class with their clever jokes and zest for learning. Those are the details that are remembered even after graduation, and these graduates knew that. The graduate class of July 2017 was a special group of individuals who truly recognized the importance of interpersonal relationships in their endeavors at F.I.R.S.T. Institute.
F.I.R.S.T. Institute’s director, Donney Smith, kicks off the ceremony with a welcome speech, congratulating the graduate class and commending them on their accomplishments. He then turns the mic over to the representative student speaker, Digital Filmmaking and Video Production graduate, Shannon Ramsey. She shares with her fellow graduates her initial struggles and personal journey at F.I.R.S.T. Institute. Her speech is filled with encouragement and inspiration, and it strongly highlights her enlightenment on the value of friendship.
The next guest speaker is Jermaine Evans, a Recording Arts and Show Production instructor. He gives an emotional speech to motivate and congratulate the graduates for their achievement. He shares some anecdotes from his class and expresses his pride of being their mentor for the past eleven months, and it is clear to see how powerful a bond between an instructor and students can truly be.
As per special request, Recording Arts and Show Production Class 242 is brought to the stage. The graduates of this class requested prior approval to be allotted a few minutes of the ceremony to recognize a few of their instructors that have influenced them the most. On behalf of his class, Ronald Williams awards a personalized certificate for instructors Wes Snowden, John Martinez, and Bob Hershberger while thanking them each for their unique talents of bringing more than instruction to a classroom, but a sense of camaraderie.
Once the diplomas are conferred, the graduate class turns their tassels in unison from right to left, symbolizing their crossover from student to graduate. However, as this video demonstrates, graduation is more than the tassel. It is more than the diploma, or the cap and gown. F.I.R.S.T. Institute’s graduate class of July 2017 exemplify the true essence of what it is. It is a celebration of the bonds you formed with your fellow graduates and instructors, the bonds of friendship and achievement, not to mention the bond with your own self. By graduating, you are proving your capability of traveling a demanding path and acquiring the foundation to achieve anything. Our graduates of F.I.R.S.T. Institute have succeeded in venturing on that path, towards the moment where their unlimited creativity will meet career. Come out and visit our Orlando campus!
