MCC graduates ready to move forward
About a third of McHenry County College’s nearly 700 graduating students attended commencement on Saturday, including Tiffany Thakkar, 36, of Lake in the Hills. She was part of the second graduating class from the college’s registered nursing program.
Although the field is far from its peak a decade ago when nurses were given signing bonuses, it still offers solid job prospects, said Thakkar, a patient care technician at Centegra Health System in Woodstock. She also has a bachelor’s degree in international business and worked in business for nearly a decade before switching careers.
MCC “was a great experience, it was a demanding program,” said Thakkar, who in March was among nursing students who donated hair to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. “I was able to do it because it was so close to home and affordable.”
The ceremony’s student speaker was Miguel Aaron Solis, 19, of Harvard, an honors student and a recipient of MCC’s Promise scholarship. Solis was the first in his family to graduate from community college. This fall, he plans to transfer to Western Illinois University in Macomb.
“A lot of people say, ‘Oh my god, you’re just graduating from community college, why is it a big deal?” Solis said. “MCC was not my first choice. But when I got here, it totally changed everything.”
Solis said that joining the soccer team helped him stay motivated to keep up his grade-point average. Thanks to his teammates, he got involved in several clubs and organizations, “and I progressed from there,” said Solis, whose goal is to work in forensic chemistry for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Among the graduates were 11 recipients of the Silver Cord award, given to students who performed 100 hours of volunteer and community service work.
Silver Cord recipient Katie Frailey, 19, of Crystal Lake, volunteered at Centegra Health System in Woodstock, where her father died of cancer six years ago. She is grateful for the care he received.
“It has always been my goal to give back something good for someone else,” said Frailey, also a Phi Theta Kappa honors student who graduated with an associate degree in arts and another in science. In the fall, she will be attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and she wants to become a doctor.
Altogether, 366 students applied for degrees and 313 applied for certificates from the college.