A total of 345 Marshalltown Community College (MCC) and Iowa Valley Grinnell graduates from all over the United States and the world celebrated an important milestone in their educational journey Friday night during the 97th annual commencement ceremony held inside the Student Activity Center on campus.

After the MHS National Anthem singers performed “The Star Spangled Banner,” MCC Provost Matt Schmit welcomed the graduates, their family members and friends and the school’s faculty and staff to the packed gymnasium along with several special guests seated behind him. He took time to recognize active duty military and veteran graduates along with all of the active servicemembers and veterans in the audience.

“Graduates of Marshalltown Community College, today marks more than a ceremony. It’s a celebration of your determination, your growth, the countless hours you’ve invested to arrive at this defining moment. Each of you has faced challenges, some expected, and many unplanned, but here you stand — resilient, capable and ready to take the next big step,” Schmit said. “At MCC, we believe in the power of education to transform lives, and your journey is proof that commitment, courage and community can shape a bright future.”

He added that from here, the graduates will pursue a wide variety of paths in their lives, but he urged them to make an impact and carry a strong sense of integrity in whatever they do.

“Lead with empathy, stay curious and never stop learning because the world needs thoughtful doers, kind leaders and voices that uplift,” Schmit said. “You’ve earned more than a degree. You’ve earned the confidence to dream bigger, the strength to persevere and the wisdom to guide others. Congratulations, class of 2025. You are and always will be a part of the MCC family.”

The audience then heard from three student speakers: Tanner Rhiner of Urbandale, Madeline Dials of Beaman and Donzell Hamilton Jr., known on campus as DJ, who hails from the Bronx, N.Y. Rhiner, a computer network and management technology major who plans to move on to the University of Northern Iowa with hopes of eventually becoming an English professor, joked that he took “a lot of gap years” before winding up at MCC after struggling academically in high school and not knowing what he wanted to do with his life.

Rhiner credited his good friend Nick Goforth, brother of MCC eSports Coach and Professor Andrew Goforth, and his late mother for inspiring him to go back to school. He spoke highly of Computer Network Management Professor Rob Buchwald and reflected on the decision to start school at the age of 24, which initially made him feel like an “outcast.”

“I was beginning to feel like perhaps I had made an error trying to pursue college in person. It’s that evil behind self comparison that steals the most of your free mental space, though. Luckily, I was able to break down those barriers and connect with those around me and become more than just a dude in his mid 20s going to community college. I was a dude in his mid 20s going to community college who realized that I was finally, for the first time, in the right place on the right path to start my life,” he said. “It’s not about how you get there or when you get there. It’s just about getting there.”

As a proud member of the successful MCC eSports program, Rhiner asked his graduating teammates to stand and be recognized and praised the sense of community forged through his participation. After sharing more thank yous, he concluded with a quote from the song “Get Old Forever” by Jeff Rosenstock: “When your friends are buying starter homes with their accomplishments, drinking at a house show can feel childish and embarrassing. With people glaring because despite what the advertisements said: Malt liquor doesn’t make you young. Breathe in deep and debride your life. Stale regrets are a waste of time. Only one thing remains secure. That we all get old together, and we all get old forever.”

In closing, he detailed his plans to go on to UNI and finally study English as Professor Goforth had suggested and thanked MCC “on behalf of (nontraditional students) everywhere.”

Dials, the next speaker, studied English at MCC and plans to transfer to the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School in New York City to major in literary studies and journalism.

She kicked off her speech with an admission: Dials didn’t want to go to MCC and felt a sense of shame and “missing out” as her friends moved away to attend four-year universities.

“Will I have the right career opportunities? Will I have any friends? Is this a big mistake?” she asked. “I was afraid for other reasons too. Prior to attending MCC, I hadn’t been in a classroom since fifth grade and was completely out of my comfort zone. I started online and was immediately overwhelmed. Canvas? I thought that was something you painted on, not submitted assignments to.”

After a few early snafus, Dials began to hit her stride and forged strong relationships with her professors who showed “compassion and wisdom.” She became an active member of Phi Theta Kappa and shared several stories of instructors who went the extra mile to provide opportunities for their students.

“As I transfer to a private college in New York, I’m terrified — not because I’ll be away from home, but because I’m worried that my future peers will not live up to the empathy I have been met with here,” she said. “But mostly, I’m terrified because I’ve grown so comfortable in this space. I recognize the faces I see in the halls, and I can joke freely with staff and faculty, knowing them by name. Halfway across the world, things may be different, but moving forward, as all of you who are graduating today, whether you will enter the workforce or transfer to another university, I hope you know that at MCC, you have a community to lean back on, not just with the academic stuff but in everything.”

She ended by describing MCC as a community college for a reason: it’s a place for students to find their footing. Hamilton, the final speaker, was a point guard on the Tiger basketball team and a fellow member of Phi Theta Kappa, and he plans to transfer to Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn. to work toward a master’s degree in social work. Hamilton joked that he would be quick because his beloved New York Yankees were playing, and he spoke of the culture shock he experienced in moving from the Bronx to Marshalltown, Iowa.

“I went from a borough of over a million people to a small town where everybody knows your name. The streetlights here don’t glow quite as bright, and the nights are a whole lot quieter, but in that silence, I found something even more powerful — clarity,” he said. “At first, it was tough. I missed the city sounds, the familiar faces, the chopped cheeses and the constant energy, but over time, I realized this quiet town was exactly what I needed.”

Hamilton spoke fondly of the diversity of cultures within the MCC student body and how much he has learned from his classmates over his two years while sharing his own experiences growing up in the nation’s largest city. To his own surprise, he became a Resident Assistant (RA), which was a step out of his comfort zone, but as a friend had once told him, “elevation requires separation.”

“Sometimes you have to be willing to step into unfamiliar circumstances, to be uncomfortable, to figure out who you really are and what you’re capable of doing. Coming from the Bronx to Marshalltown, that change forced me to slow down, reflect and rise to new challenges, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything,” he said. “At MCC, I wasn’t just a number. I was a person, a voice, a story in progress. I met professors who believed in me even when I didn’t always believe in myself. I met friends who became family. I found a community that saw my potential and helped me grow into it. So today, as I stand here, I carry both places with me — the ambition and grit of the Bronx and the grind and the growth of Marshalltown. I am proud of where I come from, I’m just as proud of where I’ve been, and I’m even prouder of where I’m headed.”

He urged his fellow graduates to remember that growth can happen anywhere and not be afraid of failure.

“Success doesn’t come from always getting it right. It comes from showing up, learning and staying in the game even when things get tough. Don’t compare your path to anyone else’s. Some of us will take the highway. Some of us will take the back roads, but what matters most is that you keep moving forward one step at a time. You’ve already proven that you can adapt, grow and rise.”

MCC Dean of Academic Affairs MaryAnne Nickle recognized five All-Iowa Scholars — Matthew Aschan, Dials, Micah Garringer, Cannon Craighton and Micah Elefson – along with Phi Theta Kappa members, MCC honors program students, high GPA achievers and students who were receiving degrees from MCC before graduating from high school. An honorary Associate of Arts degree was then bestowed upon retiring longtime HVAC Technician Burke Aschan, who spent 41 years with the college.

From there, it was time for the moment most in the audience had been waiting for: the presentation of degrees and diplomas as each graduate walked across the stage to raucous cheers and applause.