The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District will mark commencement ceremonies for both colleges in late May as students celebrate their path to earning a high school diploma.
The Cuyamaca College commencement is scheduled for May 29 at 5:30 p.m. in front of the college’s Communication Arts Building on campus. The Grossmont College commencement will be held May 30 at 9:30 a.m. at the Viejas Arena at San Diego State University.
“I’m proud of all of our graduates for putting in the hard work to reach this milestone,” said Lynn Ceresino Neault, chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District in a press release. “They received an excellent education at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges, and their lives will be forever transformed by their experiences.”
Grossmont College will be awarding 4,260 degrees and certificates to 1,572 graduates ranging in age from 19 to 77.
The graduating class includes 557 honor students with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Due to the high number of graduates and family members, the ceremony is being held at the Viejas arena for the second year in a row.
Zachery Mass, originally from the Bay area, will be the student speaker, earning his associate degree in communications.
“All the professors have been really supportive. I email them and they get back to me soon.”
Mass admitted that his academic journey before Grossmont College was not always “sunshine and rainbows,” at one point reaching a boiling point when he was expelled from middle school in eighth grade. He spent two years in a special education school before being able to return to mainstream high school.
Mass has been active in the Radio Club and announcing at Grossmont College sports events. He will be transferring to SDSU to earn a bachelor’s degree in communications with the hopes of a career in sports broadcasting. He advised anyone who is considering attending Grossmont College to get involved in some of the many activities the college offers.
“Just be as social as you can,” he said. “If you’re cooperative and be yourself, it will work out fine.”
Cuyamaca College will be awarding 1,077 degrees and certificates to 585 graduates ranging in age from 17-78 years old. The graduation class includes 234 honor students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
A Rancho San Diego resident, Jessica Lourdes Bahena will be the student speaker, earning her associate degrees in Ethnic Studies, History, Humanities and Fine Arts, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Bahena, 32, who grew up with her family close to campus, first attended Cuyamaca in 2017, but it was not until 2021 that she fully committed herself to her college education. The road has been challenging for the single mother of two, but she credits the professionals on campus for lifting her up when she was down and propelling her toward her degrees.
Bahena credits two programs for helping to make her college experience a success: Extended Opportunity Programs and Services and CalWORKS. The primary purpose of the EOPS program is to ease the transition into college for new, returning and re-entry students. CalWORKS, meanwhile, is a program that gives cash aid and services to eligible California families in need.
Even during this past spring, her last as a student at Cuyamaca. Bahena was looking for new opportunities to connect with staff and students. She worked part-time at the Cuyamaca Student Affairs Center, and in March she launched a student group called Brown Students United to bring students of color together and offer support for common challenges they face.
She will be transferring to SDSU, where she plans to major in history and Chicano Studies. She aspires to earn a master’s degree and one day return to Cuyamaca College to teach history.
Both ceremonies will also be livestreamed. The Cuyamaca College Commencement can be watched at https://bit.ly/3V0e27t, and the Grossmont College Commencement can be watched at https://bit.ly/3K1G1gY.
