Determination pays off for RCC’s 2019 College and Career Readiness graduates

ASHEBORO — Twenty students participated in the May 9 College and Career Readiness ceremony out of 29 High School Equivalency Diploma graduates and six Adult High School Diploma graduates who were eligible at the R. Alton Cox Learning Resources Center auditorium at Randolph Community College.

Two of the graduates spoke — Claymore Jones and Amoin Kouame — with Adult Basic Education Instructor Tommy Maness reading a letter from a graduate Tre’Shaun Stancil.

Stancil said he found high school difficult and started working full time, attending school less and less until he stopped.

“Looking back a few years later, I realized that decision was a big mistake and it discouraged me,” he said. “Eventually, I got married and had kids and then it really started to bother me. I was telling my kids to go to school, and get good grades so they could graduate and go to college, but I did not even have my diploma.”

Stancil learned about the High School Equivalency classes through RCC and enrolled.

“Mr. (Jerry) Barnes and Mr. (Pete) Abbott have been so helpful in assisting me with achieving my lifelong goal of obtaining my diploma,” he said. “If not for these two instructors, I do not know if I would have finished my education. They were so encouraging and willing to go the extra mile for all their students.”

Jones echoed Stancil’s message, thanking Barnes and Abbott.

“When I was in the 11th grade, I dropped out of school because I did not like it very much,” he said. “I had low self-esteem because of the clothes that I had to wear, so I quit. As I got older and started to look for jobs, I could not get hired because I did not have a diploma.

“Mr. Abbott and Mr. Barnes played a pivotal role in achieving my diploma. There were many times that I wanted to quit, but they always encouraged me, and they believed in me when I did not believe in myself. I honestly feel if it was not for them, I would not have completed my education.”

Kouame spoke of giving birth in 2001 close to 9/11 and wanting to thank the nurses and doctors, but not knowing how to write in English.

“This moment motivated me to want to learn more English,” she said. “Unfortunately, I had to stop when my family moved out of state. When I returned to North Carolina ... I was determined to finish my education. As a business owner, a mother, a wife, a student — it was definitely a challenge. There were times I felt I was in the middle of a lake and I was tired of trying to swim to the shore. Sometimes I thought about turning back, but I know I am not a quitter and I had to get to the other side.”

Kouame, who is hoping to enroll in RCC’s Therapeutic Massage program, thanked her instructors: “You taught me to stand as a warrior woman and I did.”

Dr. Robert Shackleford Jr., RCC President, gave the welcome, while Toni Formato, RCC Student Government Association President, gave the graduation address. Elbert Lassiter, Vice President for Workforce Development and Continuing Education, and Jordan Williamson, Director of Adult Basic Education, ESOL and Adult High School, presented the candidates for graduation. The conferring of the diplomas was handled by F. Mac Sherrill, Chairman of the RCC Board of Trustees, and Williamson gave the closing remarks.

Serving as faculty marshals were Melissa Woodell, Lead Instructor for CCR, and Maness.