February 15, 2025
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Community colleges send off graduates

There was a reason Angela Nadeau put off taking a required oral communications class at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

After giving the closing remarks at EMCC’s graduation ceremony Saturday afternoon, Nadeau admitted she is petrified of speaking in public.

But as with most things at the school, Nadeau said, she found the faculty as supportive as ever when it came time to get over her fears.

“That was one of my goals, which I think I accomplished today, and that’s because of the instructors here,” the Dixmont resident said after the ceremony. “They encourage you, they support you, they pick you up when you’re feeling down.”

Nadeau was one of 378 EMCC students who received degrees at the Bangor Auditorium as community colleges around the state held ceremonies this weekend. Others included Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle on Saturday and Washington County Community College in Calais on Friday.

Nadeau, 39, received an associate degree in nursing. She is one of four members of her immediate family to be involved with EMCC.

Her husband, Dennis, has two degrees from EMCC, including a one-year paramedic credential in the emergency medical services program, which he finished last semester.

Their son, Dennis Jr., recently completed his first year in the school’s liberal arts program and will start on his nursing degree there next fall. Daughter Christina will attend EMCC as a liberal arts studies student in the fall after she graduates from Brewer High School next month.

Angela Nadeau said EMCC’s community spirit is one reason her own family keeps coming back to the school.

“This is like another family,” said Nadeau, who graduated from Bangor High School in 1987. “I feel so connected to everybody here.”

Other student speakers were Mark Laverdiere of Eustis, who won an Award of Excellence in business management, and Pittsfield’s Thomas Swieczkowski, who was the EMCC Student of the Year and an award winner in the culinary arts program.

At NMCC in Presque Isle, it was a day of “beginnings and a day of passage,” according to Allan Punches, the college’s vice president and academic dean.

NMCC awarded degrees, diplomas and certificates Saturday to 175 graduates during its 45th commencement exercises.

Tim Crowley, president of NMCC, urged the graduates to give back to their communities.

“You are prepared to move forward,” he told the graduates. “But you have got to pay it back a little bit.”

Kristina Kennison of Presque Isle, who earned associate degrees in accounting information systems and business administration, was one of two graduates to address the crowd. She advised her classmates to see their graduation not as an end but as “another beginning.”

The other student speaker, Scott Morgan of New Sweden, received an associate degree in electrical construction and maintenance. The 28-year-old had his education disrupted twice by separate tours of duty in Iraq, and told his fellow graduates to work hard to overcome any obstacles they may face in the future.

“There were times in my life that I wanted to quit, but I didn’t, and I am – we are all – the better for it,” he said, adding that he hoped graduates realized that “no matter how tough times can be in life, you should persevere to overcome any obstacle that stands in your way.”

Washington County Community College held its graduation exercises at Calais High School on Friday. On Saturday Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield held its ceremonies at the Augusta Civic Center, and Southern Maine Community College in South Portland held ceremonies at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.

The University of Maine at Farmington also held its graduation Saturday.

BDN writers Jessica Bloch in Bangor and Jen Lynds in Presque Isle contributed to this report.


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