Contacts: Suzanne Higgins
suzanne.higgins@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3808 Patricia Rhodes Vogel
pr.vogel@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623.845.3014
Success Stories Abound at GCC's 40th Anniversary Commencement, May 13
The 40th Annual Commencement of Glendale Community College on Fri., May 13 at 7:00 p.m. will celebrate the achievements of approximately 863 students graduating with associate degrees and/or program certificates. Each student represents a genuine "success story." Graduates' tales of hard work, sacrifices, goals achieved and future aspirations abound. The public is invited to the free, festive ceremony, held on GCC's central mall near the main campus entrance at Olive and 61st Ave.
The Commencement speaker will be Martin Samaniego, Manager of Hispanic Community Relations for Arizona Public Service and a former city council member for the City of Glendale. He will discuss the power of education and hard work. He is a charter member of the GCC President's Circle.
The following five May 2005 graduates, who live in various cities throughout the Valley, each have dramatic stories to tell about how they made it to graduation. They are available and willing to share their experiences with the news media; their photos are attached. Access and interviews can be arranged via Suzanne Higgins, 623-845-3808.
GCC's First Biotech Graduate Already Hired by TGen
Pilar Hyder, 23, of Phoenix, came from Spain to attend school in Arizona. She has put herself through school, most recently by working as a lab assistant in GCC's biology lab. She will be the first to graduate from GCC's new Biotechnology Program. " A brilliant student," according to Biotech Program Director Dr. James Tuohy, she has already been accepted into ASU's Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology Program to pursue her B.S. in the fall. She has also accepted a two-year position as a paid intern at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) working with Dr. Pamela Pollock, Head of the Melanoma Genetics Research Unit.
Hong Kong Native Achieves Perfect 4.0 GPA
Ambrose Luk, 20, of Glendale, is doing what many probably could not do—successfully attending college and taking classes in a foreign language. He is from Hong Kong and his native language is Chinese. He has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade-point average throughout his studies, and will graduate with an Associate of Applied Science in Graphic Design. He is in the GCC Honors Program through which he has received scholarships. Currently he is interning as a graphic designer in GCC Advancement Services.
Diabetes Research Pursued by Native American Grad
Anita Valles, 34, of Avondale, will pursue her dream of researching diabetes after she graduates. When the single mother of two entered GCC, she was raising her sister's three children as well. She conquered calculus and biomedical pre-requisites and will graduate with an Associate of Arts in biology, despite never having completed high school. She plans transfer to the West campus of ASU for a B.S. and M.S. in biology, pursuing her dream of researching diabetes—a disease that plagues Native Americans, including members of her own family. She has presented her student research projects at several national conferences. Recently, she accepted a summer internship with the Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Office of Minority Health Research Coordination to conduct diabetes studies with Pima Indians.
Student Government President Aspires to Teaching
Quincy Johnson, 20, of Phoenix, serves as GCC Student Government President. For much of this school year he lived with his widowed mother and took the bus an hour each way to attend GCC. He is very active on the GCC campus, serving as the Student Government President and also serving with faculty and staff on the search committee currently selecting a new president for GCC. He used to play football, but eliminated that from his schedule so he could take more classes--he is taking an incredible 23 credit-hour load this semester. He will transfer to the University of Arizona to major in political science, and plans to become a teacher.
Single Mother of Two Turns Life Around at GCC
Sylvia Canizales, 29, of Surprise, is a single mother of two and the first in her family to attend college. Prior to enrolling at GCC, she lived in a one-bedroom government-subsidized apartment with her two children, her sister and her sister's children. She had virtually no marketable skills, no career goals, no confidence in her academic ability and a minimum wage job. She enrolled at GCC, studied hard, held down a better job, and made such good grades she was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She now lives in a house of her own, will graduate with an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education, and already has a teaching job waiting for her at Head Start.
