Wesson speaks at MCC graduation

Martin County Community College President Dr. Tabatha Miller welcomed graduating students, local officials, MCC Board members, along with family and friends Friday evening as MCC held its 56th commencement ceremony.

Dr. Miller’s recognition of many of the local officials in attendance, including Dr. Patricia Wesson, Commencement speaker Ron Wesson’s wife, Congressman Don Davis’ District Director Kimberly Mack, Rep. Shelly Willingham, Martin County Chief Deputy Drew Robinson and Martin School Superintendent Dr. Michelle White and MCC Foundation President Charlotte Griffin drew constant applause.

However, when Miller introduced the Bertie County Contingent including Bertie School Superintendent Dr. Otis Smallwood, Bertie Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael White, Bertie Early College Principal Antonio Hoggard, Bertie High School Principal William Peele and Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin along with other Bertie County officials and educators, the applause meter topped out. That could have been due to the strong showing of Bertie County MCC graduates.

“On behalf of the faculty, staff, board of trustees and foundation of Martin Community College, good evening and welcome to the 56th commencement ceremony of Martin Community College,” Dr. Miller said. “It is truly an honor to stand before you on this joyous occasion celebrating the remarkable achievements of our graduates. Every day is a good day to be a Martin Mustang.

“So as the 10th president of Martin Community College, I have the greatest honor to graduate a great class of students who I have been with from your beginning to end,” she continued. “Some of you are high school students who have been taking college classes since your freshman year.”

Of the 250 graduating students, 154 walked across the stage and of those, 92 received MCC certificates, diplomas or a degree before they graduate high school.

Dr. Miller noted the graduation was the first that 100 percent of the Bertie Early College students will earn a credential from MCC before graduating with their high school diploma.

Bertie Early College Principal Antonio Hoggard was proudly in attendance to watch the monumental moment.

Bertie County Commissioner and Martin Community College Board of Trustee member Ron Wesson offered the commencement address.

“I am so very honored to serve as one of your trustees here at Martin and to stand here today and give recognition to the faculty, to the staff and most importantly, to you, the graduates, for the fulfillment of your hard work and dedication. You have learned one of the most important lessons in life, the value of continuing education,” said Wesson.

“You know, they say you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy. And I think that’s true for me,” he continued. “You know, it’s been wonderful to be able to come back home and work and live in a community that invested so very much in me.

“You know, prior to coming back to beautiful Bertie, I had the honor of working for one company for almost 33 years,” Wesson noted, looking back on his Dunn and Bradstreet executive career. “And that’s very unusual in this day and time. I had the pleasure of working in many places around the U.S. and around the world. I had the honor of leading a team that opened the first global data center in the Netherlands. And I had opportunities to live and work in the UK and London and in South Africa.”

Wesson said all of those experiences were important in his life.

“I can tell you those experiences have made a great difference in my life,” Wesson said. “I’ve learned there are differences from place to place and people to people in terms of how they see themselves and how they relate to others. I’ve learned that there are clearly more things that bind us than the differences that we share.

“And I can tell you, graduates, that the world that you will be embarking on is becoming smaller and smaller and we cannot afford to continue to allow ourselves as human beings to be divided by what we look like, how we speak, how we serve our God or our political persuasions,” Wesson continued.

Wesson said we can learn from differences.

“If we cannot learn to see our perceived differences as strengths. If we do not recognize those differences as opportunities we will allow those differences to continue to separate us and make us weaker,” Wesson said. “I can tell you that isolation and political correctness are not the answer, regardless of where we see ourselves politically, our ability to bridge those differences and to find common ground are the tools that we will need to learn to live together in harmony.

“Many of you are proud family members, friends, children of our graduates and community leaders. So many who have come out today to recognize the success of our graduates,” he added. “I hope that all of you who saw them marching took a really great look at 154 graduates here this evening. And I can tell you, ladies and gentlemen, this is what success looks like.

“This is what achievement looks like. And this is what accomplishment looks like. Let’s give our graduates the applause and recognition that they so rightfully deserve.” Wesson noted in closing.

The ceremony concluded after each of the graduates walked across the stage steps closer to their goals.