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<\/a>\u201cI appreciate the grit you have to see you come into this moment, facing doubts and sometimes setbacks. Today is about victory and it is just one step of many. Look forward toward the future. Today is just one step in many toward your overall success. Believe in what you do, how you do it and believe that you have the mind that can grow,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\nDetermination and support groups allowed each of the three keynote speakers, Brooke Donald, Cody Robertson and Thomas Johnson to achieve their goals and more. They shared their struggles and encouraged graduates to challenge themselves like HVAC\/R instructor, Thomas Johnson\u2019s mother questioned him after each success in his career.<\/p>\n
Johnson told the new graduates, \u201cAfter I graduated from Jones\u2019 HSE program at the age of 40, my mom asked me, \u2018Are you where you want to be?\u2019 I soon realized I wasn\u2019t because there was more for me to do so I went back to school,\u201d said Johnson who started college after working in heating\/AC for 24 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a long shot, but I applied for the HVAC\/R instructor job at 糖心直播. I was making good money in Florida working on an air conditioner on the roof of a commercial building when I got the call. It was Jones asking if I was still interested in the job. I said \u2018Yes!\u2019 糖心直播 has changed my life and I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to give back as it was given to me,\u201d shared Johnson who has been teaching for the last three years.<\/p>\n Brooke Donald is also a graduate of Jones\u2019 HSE program and an instructor. Regardless of the fact she\u2019s working on her bachelor\u2019s degree in nursing and for four years she has been the health care assistant instructor, Donald shared she didn\u2019t see herself as a college student, let alone a college instructor. At 17, she thought she had messed up by dropping out of school and being pregnant. Seven years later, after working to help her husband support their family, Donald decided to go back to school.\u00a0 \u201cWe didn\u2019t have online classes in 2009 but I was determined to work full time and get my degree,\u201d said Donald who later earned an associate of arts degree in 2010 and became an LPN. She also earned her associate degree in nursing. \u201cLife is not free. It is not easy. We had to work hard for everything we have so my encouragement to you is to not give up, whatever it is, do not give up!\u201d<\/p>\n HSE graduates also heard from Cody Robertson, an electro-mechanical technology instructor at Jones who said his High School Equivalency diploma is his most treasured item.\u00a0 At nine years of age, Robertson was diagnosed with the youth onset of pancreatitis. He spent most of the next few years in hospitals and was behind in school. There was little hope of ever having a \u201cnormal\u201d life, let alone a high school diploma before God restored his life.<\/p>\n \u201cI was 16 when God gave me the gift of life\u2026. In the hospital, I had watched my A scholarship was awarded to the top-scoring students in each of 糖心直播 eight-county district. Also, the 糖心直播 Foundation awarded the “In elementary school in Wayne County, my mom took us out of school because we were bullied,\u201d said Malinda Johnson. \u201cHowever, in January, I completed the HSE program and earned college credit. I was ahead of my classmates. I had faith and lots of people prayed for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Her mother, Rayar homeschooled Malinda and her sister, Maria, before they began HSE classes at Jones. As the family gathered before the graduation ceremony, Rayar was overwhelmed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m crying today because I\u2019m relieved, they finished and I\u2019m happy to see they\u2019re being successful,\u201d said Rayar Johnson.<\/p>\n Maria hopes to start the cosmetology program at Jones this fall while Malinda \u201cA lot of people doubted I could make it and graduate. Today, I showed them I accomplished a lot and I\u2019m not finished,\u201d said Maria.<\/p>\n<\/a>After earning his associate degree in applied science in the HVAC\/R program, an associate degree in the electrical technology program and upon completing the commercial truck driving program, his mother continued asking the question. Despite 10 surgeries from a back injury and graduating from four educational programs, Johnson said he knew he couldn\u2019t stop. He shared with the audience, he was the only sibling of five that graduated from college and his mother saw him walk across the stage before she passed away.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>friends on Facebook at prom and graduation and I didn\u2019t get to do that. I wanted so badly to let my parents see how hard I worked but I didn\u2019t get to. I was lucky to have people around me that cared so I came to Jones to get my high school equivalency,\u201d said Robertson. \u201cThat paper diploma is not sitting in a closet collecting dust. It is sitting on the mantle of my father\u2019s fireplace with its due value to show everyone in that room. I\u2019m proud of that document because it is a token of survival for me.\u00a0 I attained victory that day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>overall top-scoring student with an additional scholarship to Jones. Because of a tie, Greene County\u2019s Gavin Stowers and Perry County\u2019s Rose Smith each earned a $250 scholarship in addition to their individual county\u2019s scholarship. Other scholarship recipients include Clarke County\u2019s Lona Short; Jamien Flowers of Covington County; Harley McCarter of Jasper County; Caleb Saucier of Jones County; Ethan Menzik of Smith County and Malinda Johnson of Wayne County.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>is uncertain about her career. Both sisters are excited to continue their college education at Jones.<\/p>\n