MAYHEW — About 35 students enrolled in East Mississippi Community College’s Adult Education Launch Pad received their high school equivalency diplomas June 9, during a ceremony in the Lyceum Auditorium on the college’s Golden Triangle campus.
EMCC Vice President of Workforce & Economic Development Dr. Courtney Taylor encouraged the students to set a new goal and work to make it a reality.
“I hope whatever your next step is you embrace it and seize the opportunity to make a difference in your community,” Taylor said.
EMCC Adult Education Director Tshurah Dismuke congratulated the students for persevering despite difficulties they encountered.
“You were able to overcome the obstacles before you prior to the COVID 19 pandemic to now,” Dismuke said. “As a result, you have all proved yourselves to be strong individuals whom others will view as an inspiration.”
Carla Causey, Mississippi Community College Board assistant director of Adult Education for Assessment and Program Quality, was the guest speaker. She encouraged the students to live their lives with transparency, to discover their passion and purpose in life and to make sound choices.
“You have to do what makes your heart smile and you
have to do it every day without force,” Causey said.
Since the Adult Education was unable to conduct a graduation ceremony last year because of the novel coronavirus, those students were eligible to participate in the ceremony as well.
Graduates who earned their high school equivalency diplomas during the period that began Jan. 1, 2020, and ended June 8, 2021 include Halleigh Faulkner of Eupora, Kenneth Hunt and Marissa Reed of Mathiston, and Rogelio Santos of Maben.
