Aug. 27 was a big day for close to 100 students from Santa Barbara Business College’s Santa Maria campus. Scholars from several different fields—including business administration, criminal justice, medical assisting, massage therapy, and more—mounted the Ethel Pope Auditorium stage at Santa Maria High School to receive their diplomas.
As the graduates marched to their seats during the processional, the audience, which ranged from children of the graduates to their grandparents, gathered around them and snapped pictures.
“Let this be a reminder of what you all can accomplish,” AJ Schuermann, director of the Santa Maria campus, told the new grads. “It’s been an honor to work with our graduates, and you all make us proud.”
Registrar Stephen Bernardo sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which the audience received with vibrant applause.
Many of the graduates had faced a lifestyle change, but soldiered on in order to reach their dreams.
Graduate speaker Sally Ysalde, who earned a degree in massage therapy, recalled her first moment in class when her instructor told the students there wouldn’t be any tattoos, makeup, or nails allowed: “I thought, ‘Oh, heck no. There’s no way I can do this. I sat in my car and thought: ‘No nails or no career.’”
Jessica Ybarra, another graduate speaker, thanked her family for helping her graduate: “Thanks to my family who prayed for me during finals and listened to me and my medical mumbo-jumbo.”
Seven of the students graduated on the Dean’s List, and three received high honors.
This article appears in Sep 2-9, 2010.