Speaker: Sky's the limit for FVCC grads
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Michael Selhost</strong> adjusts his Phi Theta Kappa and Montana Space Grant Consortium graduation stoles before lining up for the procession at the Flathead Valley Community College commencement ceremony on Friday. Selhost is graduating with both Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees. (Brenda Ahearn photo/Daily Inter Lake)</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong>Ashlee Nickerson</strong> lines up for the procession at the FVCC graduation. Her cap reads “Scrub In” with the number 15 in pearls. Nickerson is graduating with an Associate of Applied Science degree. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
Just a few short years ago, he was one of them. But Friday night, Andrew Crawford returned to inspire students in the graduating class of Flathead Valley Community College.
Crawford, a 2011 FVCC graduate, was now the commencement speaker at the college’s 47th graduation ceremony. The Flathead High School alumnus led an affirmation, telling students and faculty that they were doing worthwhile work while helping others, and that they could do even more.
“Repeat after me,” he said to the 404 students receiving 457 associates degrees and certificates. “I made it. I worked so hard to get here. I will remember this moment. I did not do this alone.”
For the hundreds of friends and family members also in attendance, Crawford’s words resonated. After high school, he had spent a decade as a professional snowboarder before launching his science career into the stratosphere. With experience at multiple NASA labs, Montana State University and GoogleX, the 2011 FVCC engineering graduate said hard work can take anyone to his or her own personal moon.
Other speakers included adjunct faculty member Lisa Slagle, owner of Wheelie Creative, a Whitefish design firm.
“I love this college. We’re all here dressed like highly educated wizards,” she said, before launching into a custom video made for the occasion. “The most important thing to keep is our ability to play. Play is the physical place where focus and interest collide.”
The student speaker was Ashley Olson, who spoke of her own experience at working out from under a mound of business debt.
For all the students, faculty and family gathered in the warm Trade Center Building at the Flathead County Fairgrounds, the message was this: Adversity is something to overcome and better, not something to keep you away from the stars.