PBSC graduates see future with 20/20 vision
In two commencement ceremonies May 8, Palm Beach State College will award degrees and certificates to more than 2,400 graduates, including the first group of students to complete the Associate in Science degree in Ophthalmic Medical Technology.
The commencement ceremony for the Associate in Arts transfer degree graduates will be held at 9:30 a.m. The ceremony for graduates receiving certificates and Bachelor of Applied Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Associate in Science degrees will be held at 2 p.m. Both events will be at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.
Christopher Kennedy, an Honors College student, Phi Theta Kappa member and native of Jamaica who moved to the U.S. in 2011 with his family, was selected to be the student speaker for the morning ceremony following an essay application process open to all graduates.
“It’s a big honor that I was chosen,’’ said Kennedy, who will attend the University of Florida in the fall to study public relations. “I really just want to articulate their journey of the past two to three years and get them excited about moving on to another destination in life.”
PBSC Student Trustee Keneisha Dale, who will receive a Bachelor of Applied Science degree, will be the student speaker at the afternoon ceremony.
With 65 percent of the graduates receiving an A.A. degree, the Spring 2014 class represents Palm Beach State’s continuing critical role in providing the first two years of a bachelor’s degree. They are moving on to universities throughout Florida and such schools as Duke, Georgetown and the University of Pennsylvania. About ten of the A.A. degree graduates are Dual Enrollment students who completed their degrees while they were still in high school.
Among the 871 graduates of the certificate, A.S. degree and bachelor’s degree programs, 129 are receiving bachelor’s degrees. There are 311 receiving the Associate in Science degree, including the 14 who completed the Ophthalmic Medical Technology program, which launched in August 2012 as the first of its kind in South Florida. Dr. Robert Kershner, the board certified ophthalmologist who developed the program and serves as department chair, said all of the graduates have landed jobs.
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