Quantico honors more than 240 college graduates

Photo By Valerie OBerry | The Basic School's Commanding Officer Mark Clingan gains insight about higher education opportunities that Pennsylvania State University offers it's students. (Photo by Jeremy Beale)  

QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES

10.28.2017

Story by Jeremy Beale 

Marine Corps Base Quantico

The graduates were made up of Marines, sailors, soldiers, airmen, Department of Defense civilians, veterans and their family members—five graduating with a certificate, 40 with associate’s degrees, 156 bachelor’s degrees, 46 master’s degrees and two doctorate degrees.
“Discipline, determination and self sacrifice—the Quantico Voluntary Education Center can attest to the dedication of these men and women as their academic achievements are evidence of their tireless efforts, sleepless nights and countless hours of study,” Melora McVicker, education services specialist said. “And their academic pursuits were accomplished while supporting the mission of ensuring the United States and countries abroad are safer and a more secure place to live.”
As McVicker gazed out into the audience, she saw so many familiar faces.
“It started as just a single vision,” McVicker said. “For some of these graduates, the prospect of going to college was unknown, unfamiliar and perhaps a little scary, but their graduation is a testament that their vision and dreams have power.”
McVicker saw the faces of mothers and fathers who supported their families through pregnancies, changes in work and health challenges, but made no excuses in the pursuit of such a great achievement.
Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region – MCBQ Commander Col. Joseph Murray believes those who brought their children are an inspiration to them as they showed them how difficult life is while achieving their goals.
“These graduates are working to better themselves and their environment,” Murray said. “These men and women are fighting to improve at their jobs and better their families by keeping their careers going.”
Guest speaker retired Brig.Gen. Thomas Gorry, applauded “the tremendous reward” of the graduates imparting a quote of wisdom by American author Alvin Toffler—“The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read, but the person who does not know how to learn.”
“Learning requires a great deal of effort as well as personal risk, as we are all creatures of habits, schedules and routines,” Gorry said. “Learning requires us to challenge our thoughts and ideas and possibly change our paradigms and viewpoints, yet it is through this cognitive exploration that new perspectives are developed.”
According to Gorry, the men and women should be proud of their prestigious accomplishment because their new knowledge enables them to approach the complexities of the modern and future world by applying their new vantage points and forge a deeper understanding of the issues and the vast world of opportunities for everyone.
McVicker closed by saying that if in the future when the graduates don’t have all the answers and the outcome is uncertain, they should try to find a way to hold their achievement as a symbol of strength, courage and confidence where they looked fear in the face and accomplished their goals anyway and unafraid.
The VEC offers a variety of free educational services to active duty military, family members, civilian employees and reservists. Their goal is to help Quantico families gain the necessary information and tools to achieve their educational goals.
The work of the VEC did not end with the graduation ceremony as on Oct. 29, the VEC invited more than 50 colleges, universities and educational services to base for an Education Fair to offer prospective students an opportunity to achieve their higher education goals.

• Date Taken: 10.28.2017
• Date Posted: 11.13.2017 10:36
• Story ID: 255121
• Location: QUANTICO, VA, US