State Director of Adult Education Wyvonne Stevens-Carter, Executive Director of The Literacy Project Judith Roberts, and Student Speaker and Graduate Shirley Bentances

Shirley’s Words to her Fellow Graduates:

Greetings fellow alumni and guests.

I would like to start by thanking Greenfield Community College for hosting past and present graduates.

To quote Malcolm X: “Education is the passport to the future for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

Learning in high school was hard for me and eventually, I dropped out. I was skating through life, working as a Certified Nurse Assistant until I got injured.

But that injury gave me the opportunity to study at The Literacy Project. It took me three times to sum up the necessary courage to stick with it.

Math was hard. I struggled every day, but I kept at it. I had to push away the fear of failure every single day.

It felt like I was thrown back into the memories of high school. However, with the support of many people, I pushed through and ROCKED it and got my HiSET!

Throughout this time, the feeling of inadequacy gradually faded away. Now here I am standing before you a high school graduate and a sophomore at Greenfield Community College.

I and my fellow peers are proof that no matter what age you are or where you come from, you owe it to yourself to shine alongside other generations.

We start off as a little flame, like a small star that begins to grow and grow until it becomes the sun. We are the future.

When I open up my computer, there is a picture of my diploma. Every time I open it, I see my success and achievements.

I see the faces of this crowd and I see the future. As we continue on our educational journey, we will pursue our passions with the same hunger to succeed that we have shown thus far.

I would like to quote from Julius Cesar: Veni, Vidi, vici, which means I came, I saw, and I conquered. We kicked ass!