Durham College (DC) celebrated success with more than 3,800 students graduating during Spring Convocation on Monday, June 8, Tuesday, June 9 and Wednesday June 10 at the General Motors (GM) Centre in downtown Oshawa. Friends, families and college employees were on hand to honour the post-secondary accomplishments of this year’s graduating class. 

Taking place during five ceremonies over three days, graduates from DC’s Schools of Continuing Education, Health & Community Services, Interdisciplinary Studies & Employment Services, Media, Art & Design, Science & Engineering Technology, Skilled Trades, Apprenticeship & Renewable Technology, Business, IT & Management, School of Justice & Emergency Services and the Centre for Food received their diplomas and certificates. 

“Convocation is very special celebration of our graduates, their hard work, and success,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “It allows the entire college community, our alumni, parents and families to celebrate our newest graduates. Every year I am so impressed with the quality of our graduates and often reflect that our future is in good hands. We are all so proud of what our students achieve in their studies and accomplish in their lives.  It is also another reminder that the student experience does comes first at DC.”

Students weren’t the only ones honoured during the ceremonies. DC also awarded its fifth honorary credential, an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration – Leadership and Management to Diana Lovell Kirk during Monday evening’s ceremony. Lovell Kirk is vice-president and partner of Lovell Drugs and oversees the operations of another family-owned business, The Gift House in Oshawa, Ontario. Diana was also the featured guest speaker that evening.

To address the graduates on Tuesday, DC welcomed back alumna Amanda de Souza, a 2008 graduate from the Advertising program and current part-time instructor in the School of Media, Art & Design.

Amanda encouraged the graduates to “remember how powerful opportunity feels because from here on out, your mistakes are now your accomplishments. Do not be afraid of this inevitability. From these mistakes you will learn everything not only about your chosen career, but about yourself. How you recover from these failures and what you learn is what will define you, not what life throws at you. Life doesn’t happen TO you. It happens FOR you.”

Mike Arsenault, a 2008 graduate from the Sport Business Management program and current on-camera presenter and field reporter at The Weather Network, CBC (the weekend edition of The National), CBC News Network, and CBC Toronto, addressed the graduates during Wednesday’s ceremonies.

For anyone entering into the world of work Mike’s advice was, “Get your foot in the door. Even if it’s not what you want to do it can still give you answers, it’s still valuable experience and it gives you a lot of networking opportunities.”