Members of the 2023-2024 Colorado Mountain College graduating class eagerly await their colleagues, friends, and family to assemble at the commencement ceremony. Merrell Bergin photo
Graduates, family, partners, and friends gathered at the Salida SteamPlant Theater on Saturday May 4 for the 2023-2024 Colorado Mountain College (CMC) Commencement Ceremony. The inspirational morning featured two guests speakers, student Justin Matis and Chaffee Counter Commissioner Greg Felt.
A welcome to the CMC family
Colorado Mountain College General Counsel Lucia Padilla provides the campus welcome at the 2023-2024 commencement. Merrell Bergin photo
General Counsel Lucia Padilla set the tone for what the CMC experience is all about – perseverance and belonging to a lifelong family.
“It’s a degree you earned, not because it was handed to you, she said. Actually quite the opposite… Navigating academic life is not easy. Many of you have done so while tending to other life responsibilities. Some of you may have children, parents, grandparents; extended family that you provide for in one way or another.”
“This is a testament to your resilience and ability to achieve anything you set your mind to.”
“Saying yes to every opportunity”
Justin Matis (who later received his EMT Basic certificate) was the student speaker. A 10-year member of Chaffee County Search and Rescue North, Matis described, with earthy humor and a natural stage presence, his life leading to an academic journey at CMC. His transformation began by “saying yes to every opportunity”, he explained. After traveling 7,000 miles as a long-distance hiker, Matis literally walked into Salida and in 2020, found a job as a census enumerator, thereupon meeting hundreds of Salidans in a variety of often challenging living situations.
A mailbox brochure later enticed him to learn to become an EMT. He again said “yes of course.” After 20 years away from a classroom, Matis was the classic definition of a nontraditional student; and at first, reluctant to ask for help. Learning not only about the mechanics of the human body, but leaning into the need for compassion was a balancing act. “The EMT degree offered at CMC wasn’t just a license to work on an ambulance, but a vehicle for character development,” he said.
Describing the value of the CMC Salida programs, Matis said you can be a nurse, a paramedic, a doctor; basically any job in healthcare. “And if you could become a doctor at the age of 43, with just some experience knocking on doors, you can do whatever the *!!* you want.” Matis closed by thanking his instructors and the CMC staff, encouraging his classmates to “continue saying yes…mentor someone to help them discover their passion, and live their life in the moment.”
Greg Felt applies the ‘rules of the river’ to the graduates’ journey
Commencement address for Colorado Mountain College 2023-2024 ceremony is given by Greg Felt, Chaffee County Commissioner. Merrell Bergin photo
Speaking to the experience and rigors of academic achievement, Chaffee County Commissioner Greg Felt said “Challenge and adversity are really the raw materials of personal growth. Rather than something to be avoided, they are the basis upon which to build a rich and rewarding life.”
Describing his earliest experiences as a river guide and the river being a great teacher, Felt reflected on what he learned there years ago. Seeking to put himself into the frame of mind of those at this ceremony, he described living rough in the wild and learning about the power of the river.
Felt then distilled his years of experience into “rules of the river” that he hoped might also apply to the new graduates (edited here for brevity).
- Rule #1: Rig for a flip
“Control the variables that you can…deal with the challenges that arise. Save some money for emergences and, for opportunity. When you have a near miss, think of it not as a gift, or a ‘hall pass’, think of it as an opportunity to consider what might have happened Set yourself up for dealing with each problem that comes along.”
- Rule #2: Make friends at the put-in
“In other words, don’t wait until you need help to make friends. Being relational is being humanizing. We’re all in this together and very little is truly accomplished in isolation.”
- Rule #3: Focus on the pathways
“There comes a moment where there’s a paradigm shift. The boater quits focusing on all the obstacles and instead starts focusing on the pathways. The person is focused on what matters, the obstacles are really irrelevant. A focus on the pathway is a fundamental shift from a negative outlook to a positive one. A focus on the future.”
Felt then observed that in his current role, a fourth rule makes sense.
- Rule #4: Celebrate
“Take note of the milestone. Remind yourself of the progress made and the goals achieved.”
Quoting from a book about running rivers that is important to him, Felt read a passage from “The Big Drops” that he reviews when he is considering something big or threatening for the first time. The passage from authors Robert Collins and Roderick Nash is excerpted in part here:
“There’s a certain totality that comes with running the Big Drops. You can brake a sports car, check to the side of a ski slope, or luff a sailboat into the wind. But commit a boat to the power of the rapids and you must make the run. In the boat or out of the boat, in one piece or in several…grace and courage under pressure – that’s essential.
So is the ability to be energized and not paralyzed by fear…River runners know what Winston Churchill meant when he said ‘play the game for more than you can afford to lose…only then will you learn the game.”
Graduates are more than just the numbers
Members of the 2023-2024 CMC graduating class receive their diplomas and certificates from Trustee Gloria Perez and Salida-Poncha Springs Board Liaison David Armstrong as CMC dignitaries and speakers wait to congratulate them. Merrell Bergin photo
Every person being celebrated in this graduating class represents a different story of challenges met and the growth that resulted. To their family, partners and friends, this day will be long remembered. To the community, each graduate individually (and collectively) will make their own mark in Chaffee County and beyond.
A total of 47 degrees, certificates, and diplomas were awarded with the greatest number helping to fill the ranks of our local healthcare field. EMT Basic and Nurse Aid Certificates accounted for 30 awardees. Of the Nurse Aides, seven are concurrent enrollment high schoolers.
Additionally, one Salida student has earned a Bachelor of Science in leadership and management. Other degrees included Associates in Arts, Psychology, Applied Fire Science, Chemistry, and Outdoor Recreation Leadership.
Across CMC’s 11 campuses 1,554 graduates this month continue to show the value that the unique CMC experience brings to our state. In addition some 65 students participated in the business internship program in the last school year on the Salida Campus, together with 172 students involved in concurrent enrollment.
Reporter’s note:
I reflect today on my own college graduation 51 (yes) years ago — June 2, 1973 in Denver, Colorado. It was a wonderful moment for me, when my (traditional, nuclear) family arrived, after a four-day, 2,000 mile road trip (in a VW Squareback, no less) from New England to watch the oldest child graduate.
I recall only a hot day, a brief walk in the sun to collect my trophy, amidst many hundreds of others, (mostly highly-privileged, “traditional” undergraduates) and then the best part of all, a family dinner — together again. The speeches were a passing blur, as were the previous years of study as a full-time, working student. What lay ahead for me was a new job, a career (that changed often), and unknown pathways, in my adopted Colorado, as my family turned East and headed home.
To witness the highly personal CMC ceremony and appreciate how these graduates worked so hard to reach this point, is truly inspiring. We came from different places and times, but the support of our family, friends, and the wisdom gained through the passing of time brings us all to a common, celebratory place. Saturday’s ceremony was a special day for me too – thank you to the CMC class of 2023-2024 for these shared memories.
Featured image: Colorado Mountain College 2023-2024 graduates gather at the SteamPlant for a class picture. Photo courtesy Hugh Carey for CMC
Recent Comments