Hard-earned success

MOSES LAKE — Genuine success is neither quick nor easy, as the students who graduated Thursday from Big Bend Community College attested.

There's a simple story I remember when I was younger,” Associated Student Body President Pedro Lopez said, alternating between English and Spanish. “It's about a kid who plants a seed. At first nothing happens. They water it every day, but the ground still looks the same. They start to wonder if anything is happening at all. They think about digging it up to check, that maybe it didn't work. Maybe nothing is growing. But they keep watering anyway. 

“Days pass, then weeks and still nothing they can see until one day something finally breaks through the soil. Not all at once, not dramatically, but quietly, a small green sprout pushed upward. And what they realize is that growth … was just happening when they didn't see it.”

The 703 students who graduated Thursday evening at Lions Field came from all over Washington and from several states and other countries, said BBCC President Sara Thompson Tweedy in her introduction, and may have been the largest class in the college’s history. Every one of them, like Lopez, had arrived by a different route. Some of those routes were rocky and twisty, like student speaker Aubrey Griffith’s.

“My very first job was in an orchard thinning apples,” Griffith said. “Since then, I've worked just about every job you can think of. I had my son during my senior year of high school, but with an amazing support system behind me, I was able to graduate on time. The next 15 years were a blur of working two to three jobs at a time while raising two kids.”

In 2015, Griffith decided to go back to school full-time, while working flexible hours at her job. She earned her associate’s degree, then worked her way to a Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management. As a bonus, the son she had as a teen, Layden Griffith, was graduating alongside her.

“My son graduated from high school last week and today he's graduating with his associate's degree two years ahead of schedule,” she said. “He's done all this while balancing sports clubs and two jobs.”

Layden Griffith was one of more than 200 students who earned their associate’s degrees simultaneously with their last two years of high school through the Running Start program.

Also graduating from Running Start was Ayden Britt, who wore a garland of instant ramen cups around his neck. The ramen was a gift from his brother, he said, to remind him of what he’d be living on through the rest of his college days. Britt plans to go on to the University of Washington in Seattle to study finance, then real estate law, he said.

Alongside the ramen was Britt’s TRIO sash, an emblem of a program that supported him through his time at Big Bend.

“(TRIO) not only helped me with my classes, they helped me figure out my major and (got me through) financial stress,” Britt said. “Honestly, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been here today.”

The students who were graduating had earned their laurels, said Vice President of Learning and Student Success Dr. Bryce Humpherys, but they didn’t do it alone.

“When you hold that diploma in your hand, remember to pause in grateful recognition of the many people who have supported you along your educational journey,” Humpherys said. “Thank your family, your friends, teachers, advisors, coaches and mentors who helped you achieve this accomplishment. Indeed, as you celebrate, know that you have fulfilled not only your own personal dream, but also the hopes of those who have loved you and who have supported you as a student.”

In her address, Griffith thanked her son and also his grandmother, who had stood behind her every step of the way, she said.

“Thank you for showing all of us that determination and resilience never go out of style,” she said. “And to the Class of 2026, or anyone out there still chasing something, don't wait until life slows down to chase something important to you … and don't be afraid to change direction if something doesn't feel right. Sometimes the wrong path leads you right to where you're supposed to be.”

    Gracie Maloney receives her diploma from BBCC President Sara Thompson Tweedy Thursday.
  

    Ayden Britt, left, and his friend Ashley Cruz show off their hard-earned diplomas Thursday. The ramen around Britt’s neck was a reminder from his brother of the diet he could look forward to at the University of Washington, he said.
  

    Layden Griffith receives his diploma at BBCC’s graduation Thursday. Griffith was receiving his associate’s degree at the same ceremony where his mother Aubrey Griffith was receiving her bachelor’s.