The Los Medanos College graduating class of 2017 had an incredible end to their time here as they attended graduation. With 1,257 students graduating, the biggest graduating class LMC has had to date, it was a commencement event that celebrated students finishing up at the college.

LMC President Bob Kratochvil, who attended the event, was proud to see how the ceremony turned out.

“This year’s graduation ceremony was a celebration of our students’ success,” said Kratochvil.

The weather was perfect as a record number of students who walked in the ceremony, and the students and their families and friends really seemed to enjoy the afternoon.  The Graduation Planning Committee, led by Dean David Belman, did a fantastic job of organizing the day’s festivities.  This was the first graduation ceremony in our district for our new Chancellor Fred Wood, and he gave an impactful speech.

“Our student speakers did an outstanding job of providing important and inspiring messages to the graduating class,” said Wood.  “For me, my favorite part is shaking hands with and providing gestures of good wishes to each of the graduates.”

“While we part with some of the students on that day, we hope they will remember LMC as the incredible educational institution it is,” Wood continued.  “On the day following graduation, they became LMC alumni and forever will be a part of our family.”

Some graduates are happy they’re done at LMC, some are going to miss it dearly. LMC graduate Miguel Saro fits in the latter category.

“I will miss LMC because I learned so much,” said Saro. “It helped me be a better person. I learned other things from other classes and I’ve made so much friends. I felt good that I was going to be done with LMC but sad because I was leaving and LMC was over for me.

“I will say the best part of the ceremony was having them calling your name and you just felt special about it. I’m happy to be transferring to Cal State East Bay University and moving forward to having a good future.”

Another graduate who will also miss LMC Zeltzin Lucas, whose three years here really made a difference to her and even her family.

“My parents were really proud,” said Lucas. “Now I’ll be transferring to San Francisco State University to become a teacher. I was excited to leave and transfer but I enjoyed my time at LMC.”