An Ellicott City resident and 2006 Centennial High School graduate, Ali told the crowd that when she arrived at the college "as a short, shy girl, I had no idea how to involve myself in HCC's student life." Encouragement from teachers and support from peers led her to become assistant editor of the HCC Times student newspaper, president of the Muslim Student Association and founder of a discussion club called the Armchair Intellectuals.
Ali's four older brothers had graduated from HCC. She said in an interview that she always thought it would be great to be a speaker at graduation. When it came time to audition, she said, she drew on a key lesson she learned at the college: If you want something, try for it. You will be surprised by the outcome.
Alexangel Estevez, 30, said he also found a great deal of support at HCC when he moved from Los Angeles to Ellicott City on his own, seeking a college where he could study art. After eight years as a dispatcher at 20th Century Fox studios, he had found that a lack of education was keeping him from using his artistic skill to move to the graphics department.
He said of the HCC faculty, "They actually were there, they cared, they put in that extra mile."
With support that ranged from accommodations for his learning disability to scholarships for a two-week painting class in France, Estevez said his dreams are "all pretty much coming true."
"The goal was to get my [associate's degree] and go back to L.A.," he said. "Now I don't want to. I want to stay out here and go to school."
He said he plans to enter Virginia Commonwealth University and pursue a career in graphic design.
Waskey's educational path stretched over three decades, starting with her first classes at HCC in 1978.
She stopped her studies to get married and support her husband while he went to college. She said she took classes while pursuing a career putting together bid proposals for the engineering company that is now Honeywell. Then, she and her husband started a family and for a while life revolved around two children.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago that she said, "It was time for me to finally get on track and get this thing wrapped up."
Waskey earned an associate's degree in business management and plans to continue her studies at the University of Maryland University College. She said she does not want to go back to her former career "and the only way I could break away from that was to become educated."
Her degree is also meaningful, she said, because "years ago, I think women weren't pushed to do these kind of things. It is so important for women to be able to take care of themselves. They need to stick with it, get it somehow, some way until it happens."
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