Dedication pays off as CCC students earn diplomas

David Finn didn't give new Central Community College-Grand Island graduates a typical "follow your dreams" speech at their commencement ceremony Saturday.

In fact, he told the graduates, you don't necessarily need visions of grandeur in order to reach it.

"You can succeed without dreams or great expectations if you're dedicated to continually learning and trying," Finn said.

Finn could point to his own career as evidence. He's Caterpillar Corp.'s product support manager for North America, but he had no idea that was where he was headed when he was planning a career.

A budding musical talent, he only went to Oregon State University to study engineering because his mother practically dragged him there.

He then took advantage of each new opportunity that came his way by learning and adapting. That allowed him to steadily advance up the career ladder at one of America's largest companies.

That wasn't what Finn had dreamed for himself. It was better.

"None of those (opportunities) I could have foreseen, and it doesn't seem to have made any difference," he said. "With training and education, you can overcome just about any obstacle."

Finn commended the 140 or so graduates at Saturday's ceremony, part of nearly 300 who made up the CCC-Grand Island Class of 2008.

The graduates themselves spent a little time applauding others' service, as they gave standing ovations to CCC President LaVern Franzen and CCC Foundation Executive Director Jack Crowley, both of whom are retiring this year.

They also gave a spirited ovation to their classmates who are part of the military.

But the rowdiest applause came from the 1,200 or so friends and family members who packed the Grand Island Senior High gym when CCC-Grand Island President Lynn Black said those magic words: "Graduates, turn your tassels."

Dina Robinson offered a fitting prelude to Finn's message of hard work and willingness to take on new challenges when she spoke of being roped into a nursing program at CCC by her sister.

Robinson, who was given CCC's Distinguished Alumni award, is now an official at Kearney's Good Samaritan Hospital and the co-founder and owner of SerRobCo, an international company that produces emergency medical toolkits for removal of piercings.

"Can you believe that two 40-plus-year-old women in Central Nebraska came up with this idea?" she said, referring to herself and her sister.

Before the ceremony, the graduates were mostly silent as they lined the halls of Grand Island Senior High in their procession order, occasionally punctuated by faculty members sashaying between them offering words of encouragement.

But that didn't mean there wasn't any nervous excitement among them.

Two graduates -- Barbara and Susan Paup -- acknowledged some butterflies.

The Central City mother- and daughter-in-law went through CCC's program to be certified as registered nurses together, capping two years of carpools, study sessions and mutual support.

Now that the hard work was finished, the Paups were excited to take their skills to work on the job.

"We couldn't have done it without each other," said Susan Paup, Barbara's daughter-in-law. "It was a hard program, but it was worth it.”