Laurus College held its semi-annual commencement Jan. 23 at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel, located next to Laurus College’s campus, in Oxnard. The ceremony recognized the achievements of students who completed their certificate and/or associate degree programs in 2015. While the majority of Laurus College graduates don’t reside in Oxnard, that didn’t prevent 41 graduates and more than 200 family members and friends from attending the ceremony.
Among the graduates in attendance, 24 received honors student status (3.8 GPA and higher), and several were awarded a combination of both a degree and a certificate in their field of study. Associate degrees and certificates were awarded in all five of the program areas that Laurus College offers: digital arts and computer animation, information technologies (IT) and network systems, medical billing and coding, professional business systems, and web design.
“Today is a day of achievement, celebration, and reward,” Nat Keebler said in a statement. He is a professional business systems graduate from Santa Maria who was nominated by his instructors for the honor of speaking on behalf of the 2015 graduating class. “Whatever our motivation might have been to start this journey, from the promise of a better standard of living to providing for the needs of our families, that first step has been accomplished.”
This article appears in Feb 4-11, 2016.