Category — Graduation

Thomas Nelson Community College named graduating students Matthew Paul Faubion and Sandra Joy Brooks as recipients of 2008-2009 President‘s and Vice President’s Awards, respectively. The College presents the awards during commencement each spring in acknowledgment of students’ exceptional academic performance. Both recipients are graduating summa cum laude with 4.0 grade point averages.

Criteria for the awards include attaining the highest cumulative grade point average (GPA), completing at least 60 semester hours of course work and receiving an Associate’s Degree for the current year, among other criteria.

Faubion enrolled at TNCC in 2007 and has completed the requirements for an Associate of Science in Social Science. He plans to study Sociology/Criminology at Christopher Newport University in the fall and become a police officer, but his goals don’t stop there. Ultimately, he envisions himself as a local government official, possibly a mayor. “TNCC was excellent to prepare me for life at a four-year college. The teachers’ one-on-one interactions with the students really helped to facilitate a better learning environment,” Faubion said.

Faubion juggled his studies with a job as a waiter at Surry House Restaurant, but working didn’t impede his academic success. He maintained grades sufficient for membership in Phi Theta Kappa, the International Honor Society for two-year colleges.

In his spare time, Faubion leads the youth group at Surry United Methodist Church and plays bass guitar. He is also a member of 4-H, an organization that promotes leadership, citizenship and more. Faubion resides in Surry County. His parents are Kent Faubion of Mount Pleasant, S.C. and Jeannie Rowland of Surry County.

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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Practically every day like clockwork Mac Morning would be the first person to arrive at Thomas Nelson Community College’s (TNCC) Historic Triangle campus at the Busch Corporate Center in Williamsburg. Most days he arrived between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. before the building opened and waited about an hour until the faculty and staff arrived to open for the day.

For the past two years, 22-year-old Morning has made his way from Toano to TNCC via the public bus line to attend classes. This commute short takes nearly two hours on public transit due to the bus system’s schedule. As Friday, May 15, Morning’s days of waking up before dawn to catch the bus headed for class were over when he graduated during TNCC’s fortieth annual commencement.

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If Natasha Hubbard’s class started at 10 a.m., she was on campus by 8 a.m. Her philosophy: being early surely beats showing up late. Before class, the Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) student usually found a relaxing place to sit near the shrubbery outside of Templin Hall on the Hampton campus. Nothing disturbed her there – not even the bumbles bees that swarmed around her seat. “I never moved,” Hubbard said with a laugh. “I couldn’t see them anyway.”Hubbard lost sight in her left eye when she was 12 years old. At 16, she lost sight in her right eye, leaving her completely blind. With plenty of determination and assistance from TNCC’s Disabled Student Services team, Hubbard completed the requirements for an Associate of Science in Social Science degree at the end of the fall 2008 semester with a 3.5 grade point average.  She graduated with the class of 2009 during the College’s fortieth annual commencement ceremony. “She’s an inspiration,” said longtime friend Karen Perez.

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Thomas Nelson Community College will celebrate its 40th Commencement Ceremony at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 15 at the Hampton University Convocation Center. More than 1,177 students have applied to graduate during the 2008-2009 academic year. This number includes students who completed their curriculum requirements in the summer 2008, fall 2008 and those who have applied for graduation in spring 2009. Graduating students will receive associate degrees, career studies certificates and diplomas. Some of the graduating students will receive more than one degree or a combination of degree, career studies certificate and/or diploma.

As part of the commencement exercises, Mr. W. Taylor Reveley III, President of the College of William and Mary, will address the graduating class. In addition, the colors will be presented by the Bethel High School JROTC, and music will be provided by the York River Concert Band.

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VIRGINIA PENINSULA – On Wednesday, August 6, at 9:00 a.m., thirty-eight U.S. Navy Sailors will graduate from the Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT) Program at Thomas Nelson Community College. The graduating students will receive the TNCC Medical Laboratory Technician Certificate and will be awarded the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) HM 8506.  The ceremony will take place on the TNCC Hampton campus in Templin Hall. Captain Susan E. Herron, NC, USN, Commanding Officer of the Naval School of Health Sciences Portsmouth, Va. and Dr. Charles A. Taylor will be addressing the graduating class.

In addition to the HM 8506 NEC, 12 of the graduating students have also completed the requirements in Associate of Applied Science Degree (AAS) and will be receiving degrees in Medical Laboratory Technology.  Furthermore, the students have the opportunity to complete their educational goals by utilizing the Navy Tuition Assistance Program. Tuition Assistance (TA) is the Navy’s educational financial assistance program. It provides active duty personnel funding for tuition costs for courses taken in an off-duty status at a college, university or vocational/technical institution, whose regional or national accreditation is recognized by the Department of Education.  Navy TA pays for both classroom and independent study/distance learning courses, regardless of course length. Courses must be offered in semester hours, quarter hours, or clock hours. The credits earned must show on the institution’s transcript.

This is the eighteenth class to graduate from Thomas Nelson Community College since the U.S. Navy awarded the contract to Thomas Nelson in 1998. The program calls for an accelerated 60-credit hour MLT certificate to be completed in 54 weeks. TNCC is the only community college in the nation to train U.S. Navy personnel as medical lab technicians. Students complete seven months of their training at Thomas Nelson and five months of clinical medical laboratory internship at the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth. Graduating students apply the training received at U.S. Navy facilities around the world.

Thirty-one of the graduating students are re-enlisting in the U.S. Navy for a minimum of three years to maximum of six years.  Twenty-seven of these students will be receiving selective re-enlistment bonuses for obligating additional service to the U.S. Navy.  The total monetary amount to be paid to these sailors exceeds $700,000.

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For Keishera “KeiKei” White graduating cum laude from Thomas Nelson Community College earlier this month marked yet another significant triumph in her life. Throughout her 28 years she has lived with a rare form of cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound. When her peers took the stage to receive their awards on graduation day, White proudly took a position out front to accept her Associate of Applied Science in Human Services degree.

“…from the beginning of my life I had obstacles to try to hold me back, but I didn’t let that stop me … The doctors called me a ‘miracle baby.’ I spent the first 16 days of my life in the hospital without bonding with my mother,” says White, explaining that she suffered a severe lack of oxygen at birth that resulted in cerebral palsy.

Determination to meet and beat any challenge has driven the Bethel High School honor graduate ever since. “I type with a head stick in order to get my work done. I also have my own apartment. I can say that I truly enjoy life,” she notes.

While attending TNCC, White was a student worker in the Admissions Office and participated in several campus activities. Having graduated with a 3.3 grade point average, she is now enrolled at Old Dominion University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Human Services. She attributes her success and positive attitude to her family.

“My mom took the word ‘can’t’ out of my vocabulary. She used to say you can do it, it might take you a little longer to do it but you can do it. The word ‘can’t’ was just like a curse word in our household,” she recalls.

White aspires to a future in social advocacy guided by her personal experiences. She was mainstreamed into regular second grade classes at age 10 after three years of “fighting the system to get me into regular classes.”

“…I want to be a liaison between the court system and children with disabilities. I also want to be an advocate for people with disabilities. My family had to fight all of my life for me to participate in anything I wanted to do so I feel that I am a true expert in not taking no for an answer,” White adds.

A life time of activity and community involvement clearly show White’s can-do spirit. From as early as age 2, she was regularly spotlighted in a local newspaper, the Daily Press, for such feats as membership on a youth cheerleading squad.

Among other honors, achievements and affiliations are:

• National Honor Society membership;
• GI Joe Real American Hero – presented with Medallion of Merit by Senator Charles Robb;
• Social Services of Newport News internship;
• Sharon Stewart Coles Law Office internship;
• Volunteer for Transitional Youth Program, Leisure Activities Program, Voting Polls, Mary Christian Campaign, Hampton City Hall Greeters Program, Youth Leadership Forum, and Winners of Wheels Club and
• Hampton Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities membership, to name a few.

The daughter of Roscoe and Gwendolyn White of Hampton, she is planning a summer 2010 wedding with her boyfriend of seven years, Kenneth Moore, also of Hampton.

To request an interview with Ms. White, please contact the Office of Public Relations at Thomas Nelson Community College at 825-3811.

Release #08-0535

Thomas Nelson Community College posted a record number of students who applied to graduate this year, according to college President Charles A. Taylor.

School officials said 1,159 students applied for graduation. That number marks a 20 percent increase compared to last year, Taylor said during the college’s 39th annual commencement Tuesday evening.

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Four Thomas Nelson Community College students scheduled to graduate on May 13 are the College’s first Honors Program graduates. The 7:00 p.m. commencement ceremony will be held at the Hampton Coliseum.

Eduardo Davila-Reyes, Shea Degruy, Thomas Dale Hill and Tyrone Norman earned Honors distinction by successfully completing 15 or more credit hours of Honors-level courses and at least one semester of the Honors colloquium series − a sequence of seminars and themed group activities. The students also performed well in their regular courses maintaining a 3.25 or greater grade point average throughout their enrollment at TNCC, according to the College’s Honors Coordinator Dr. Linda Haugh.

“[They] are our first so needless to say, we are very proud of their accomplishments. Each one has been extremely conscientious is pursuing this accomplishment. They certainly represent the caliber of student for whom the program was designed,” says Dr. Haugh who is also a Psychology professor and department head.

About the students:

Eduardo Davila-Reyes – Davila-Reyes, 28, is set to receive Associate of Science degrees in both Social Science and Business Administration. He became a TNCC student in 2005 and established a presence through participation in several student organizations and campus activities. His memberships include Phi Theta Kappa and Science Club while he also tutored fellow students roughly 20 hours a week and was named to the All–Virginia Academic Team. The U.S. Army veteran, who has combat experience in recent U.S. military operations, also participated in student volunteer clean-up projects at local waterways.

Davila-Reyes, an aspiring pharmacist and Newport News resident, will attend the College of William and Mary to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Biology or Neuroscience. He said plans are to ultimately earn a doctoral degree in pharmacy. He believes the Honors Program aptly equipped him for the rigors of the academic challenges he’s about to face.

“It’s opened up a lot of opportunities for me and I’m glad I had a chance to be in the program. The biology component was especially helpful with the career I’m pursuing. I highly recommend it to others because it exposes you to a totally different aspect of your course work and the instructors for all of the classes are excellent,” said Davila-Reyes.

Shea Degruy – Degruy enrolled at TNCC in 2005 to pursue an Associate of Science Degree in Business Administration. The New Orleans native said returning to school at age 28 was a daunting prospect at first. He credits the Honors Program for giving him a huge surge of confidence.

“I chose a two-year school because I wanted to get my feet wet; I graduated from high school in 1998 so I was a little nervous thinking about sitting in a classroom full of 18-year-olds. Someone mentioned the Honors Program to me so I decided to try it. It was a lot easier than I’d anticipated and it really helped me get over my fear by showing me that I could do anything,” said Degruy, noting that he highly recommends the Honors Program to anyone looking for a more profound college class experience.

The U.S. Navy veteran has lived in Hampton since 2004 along with his wife, Lelani and their son, Shea Jr., age 4. Degruy aspires to a career in corporate finance upon earning a bachelor’s degree in finance (with a track in real estate) from Old Dominion University. His alternate plans involve becoming an entrepreneur.

Thomas Dale Hill – Having enrolled at TNCC in 2005, Hill is scheduled to receive an Associate of Science Degree in Biology and has applied to the College of William and Mary with plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in Biology. The 21-year-old juggled a schedule of attending classes, working a part time job and periodically working with his father’s construction company to arrive at graduation day and despite the challenging balancing act, he prevailed. He attributes his success to the Honors Program. “Taking Honors courses was really advantageous. It gave me a deeper understanding of the course work, a greater appreciation for my professors and teachers — who are all amazing — and it opened up an opportunity for me to be invited to the honor society,” said Hill.

Hill, a Newport News native and Gloucester resident, is aiming for a career as a researcher in the marine science field. His ideal employer is Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Tyrone Norman – Eighteen-year-old Norman will receive an Associate of Science Degree in Business Administration. This fall the Hampton resident will begin working towards a bachelor’s degree in the same field at the College of William and Mary. He lauded the Honors Program at TNCC, calling the instructors he encountered while in the program “extremely phenomenal.”

“I gained a lot of knowledge and great classroom experiences while in the program. The attention I received [as a result of] the smaller class sizes and the access I had to my professors and instructors was the greatest experience I’ve had as a student,” said Norman.

The Honors Program exists throughout Virginia Community College System’s 23 colleges with TNCC meeting the most “best practices” goals for the program, noted Dr. Haugh. “Honors programs at community colleges are definitely growing across the country … The Honors designation makes students more competitive when applying to four-year schools or for employment.” She praised the faculty’s dedication to providing the intensive work required by the program, commended the Honors Council for its guidance and thanked all TNCC staffers who ensure that qualified students are identified for participation in the program. “In the three years I have been Honors Coordinator, I have come to appreciate how many ‘hands’ is takes to make this experience available to our students.”

The Honors Programs affords its students such benefits as smaller class sizes, mentorship through greater access to faculty, and eligibility for invitation to the international honor society Phi Theta Kappa, among other advantages. Detailed information about the Honors Program at TNCC is available at www.tncc.edu.

Release #08-0534