Follow your passion more than just your role at a company. Your work life is more than just about a salary – it’s how you add value to your employer and yourself. Know that you are more than just a cog in the wheel – you bring technical skills and ideas gained in your college education.
These were a few of the pieces of advice keynote speaker Tracy Crocker gave to Gateway Technical College graduates and a packed auditorium of family and friends at the college’s commencement ceremony Tuesday, May 21.
“You are the future of not only our community, but the future of some of America’s most vital industries,” said Crocker. “From accounting, to IT, to nursing and to technical training – especially technical training in the marine industry – we need you.”
Crocker told graduates that the two questions they need to ask themselves as they move forward in their careers are “What’s in it for me?” and “Where am I in it?” Asking these two questions will give graduates the ability to match their talents to their best career situation and to pave the way to create an even better situation for their work and life.
Crocker is the president of the BRP Marine Group, which has a facility in Sturtevant.
The ceremony recognized a large number of prospective graduates this year, a total of 1,332 for graduation from Summer 2018, Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters. A total of 452 students participated in the ceremony, the most in the past six years.
Other commencement highlights included the presentation of the 2019 Gateway Technical College Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award to Mary Kubicki, who earned a Supervisory Management degree in 2012. Kubicki is the Kenosha County Clerk, a position she’s held since 2009.
Keydi Osorio, a 2019 Marketing associate degree program graduate, spoke as the student responder.
“Gateway gave us an education to be proud of and to be confident about,” Osorio told the audience. “I am proud to say that Gateway creates leaders for future generations. We are the leaders for future generations.
“I am proud of every single one of you. I do not have to know what you went through specifically to realize the importance of the degree to you and what it means to each of us. Gateway, itself, is a gateway to a sense of pride, knowing we have this degree, knowing we have a gateway to a better job, and, most importantly, knowing we have a gateway to a better way of life for us.”
The ceremony was held at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Sports and Activity Center, 900 Wood Road, Kenosha.
For a video of the entire ceremony, go to: https://bit.ly/2wd4cTB. For a shorter, produced video, go to: https://bit.ly/2YOaeq9. To see photos of the ceremony: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmBrdZYc.
