CCC Celebrates Graduation Day

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – Central Community College held commencement ceremonies on May 9 with 533 graduates taking part. Both the Grand Island Campus and Hastings Campus graduations were held at the Heartland Events Center while the Columbus Campus commencement was held at the Raider Fieldhouse.

CCC’s graduation featured a first as 11 GED graduates took part, five each at Grand Island and Hastings and one at Columbus. GED stands for “General Education Development,” more commonly called high school equivalency. GED is one of the programs available through CCC’s adult education program.

Keynote addresses at all three campuses were delivered by CCC’s Outstanding Alumni Award recipients: Quelbin Izaguirre, Columbus; Paulina Ortega, Grand Island; and Alex Kemnitz, Hastings. A recap of each ceremony follows.

Columbus
The focus of Izaguirre’s address was happiness, saying it’s something he never thought he would achieve and calls it “the most underrated thing in the achievement walk.”

Izaguirre’s journey to happiness began in his home country of Honduras, the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. He said his family lived on less than a dollar a day. At age 3, Izaguirre contracted kidney disease and doctors told his parents that he would make it to age 6 and die. The news didn’t sit well with his father, who walked 2,520 miles to California to find better health care.

Izaguirre and his family eventually joined his father in Compton, Calif., which is a notorious for being a very dangerous area. Two weeks after the death of his aunt, Izaguirre’s family moved to Columbus, where she had lived. Though he said he was dragged to Columbus, Izaguirre said it was the greatest thing his father had done. He graduated from high school in Columbus and, following a stint in the U.S. Army, he enrolled at CCC-Columbus.

“This is where I fell in love with business, and I fell in love with economics,” said Izaguirre, who went on to graduate from Wayne State College and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. “CCC gave me a strong foundation to continue my education.”

Izaguirre encouraged the graduates to focus on four things that have brought him true fulfillment: faith, family, friends and meaningful work.

“If you center your life around faith, family, friends and meaningful work, you won’t just chase happiness, you will live it just like I am,” Izaguirre said.

Grand Island
As a 2021 Grand Island Campus graduate, Ortega opened her address with a bit of amazement.

“I never imagined that just a few short years after earning my degree, I’d be back here on this stage celebrating not only my own journey but yours as well,” said Ortega, who earned a human services degree.

Ortega said she arrived at CCC-Grand Island with hopes, questions and a desire to grow but discovered much more.

“I found mentors who believed in me, peers who challenged me and a community that showed me the true value of support and service,” Ortega said.

Since 2023, Ortega has been employed at the Grand Island Campus as the apprenticeship coordinator. In this role, she connects business with apprentices seeking on-the-job training, a salary and a credential upon completion. She said the apprenticeship program is more than just a training program, it’s a bridge between education and opportunity.

“What makes this work so meaningful is witnessing potential become purpose,” said Ortega. “I see students gain confidence as they apply their skills in real-world settings. I watch them become contributors, leaders, advocates for themselves. That’s not just inspiring, it’s a reminder of why community colleges like ours matter so deeply.”

Ortega also reminded the graduates that commencement is both a culmination and a beginning.

“Whether your next step is a job, another degree or something entirely different, you already have the tools to succeed,” Ortega said. “Your time here has prepared you not only with knowledge, but with resilience, empathy and the ability to adapt. These are qualities that will carry you far.”

Hastings
Kemnitz based his address on the many tools he received from his days at CCC-Hastings, not the tangible tools, but the intangible tools that can’t be bought or sold. He said he uses the intangible tools each day as a teacher at Grand Island Senior High School.

“My many instructors taught me to be a good mentor; they modeled how to teach,” said Kemnitz, who majored in advanced manufacturing design technology. “My time as an RA (resident assistant) taught me conflict management. My time as a tutor in the Academic Success Center taught me how to listen.”

Kemnitz later shared a conversation he recently had with the mother of one of his students who wanted her child to attend a university. He said the mother explained that she had earned a two-year degree from another college in another state that she had never used. Kemnitz also said the mother didn’t want people to look down on her child for attending a community college. Initially, Kemnitz said he felt sorry for the mother for not using the tools she acquired at her college. However, her words provided the impetus for his charge to the graduates.

“Leave here as an ambassador for CCC,” said Kemnitz. “Leave as a skilled professional, ready to give back and take on that challenge and ready to use the many tools you’ve been given to show the world what CCC is and what we can do with our community college educations.”