The founder and creator of the I GOT U brand Walter Boldish also addressed the graduates
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Seventy members of the Mildred Elley School class of 2023 were given diplomas on Thursday night.
Campus Director Belinda Green addressed the students during the ceremony held at the Holiday Inn and Suites and said graduation is one of the most significant chapters of a student's life as it provides an opportunity to celebrate the efforts they have made while embracing the new journey they have ahead of them.
"This is also a special opportunity for those who have touched your life throughout this journey. As you move forward, we really hope that you will keep in touch with us and share all of your amazing accomplishments that await you," Green said.
Green also recognized the Mildred Elley faculty and staff who guided students throughout their time with the college.
Student speaker Judith Jones said the past two years have been trying but she will remember them forever.
"Never give up on your passion without commitment. You would never start if it was easy. We would not have had the amazing tears that we had, easy peasy lemon squeezy," Jones said.
Jones worked as a cosmetologist for 19 years but was drawn to enroll in the nursing program because she thought it would be challenging, demanding and interesting.
Jones recalled a conversation with the Mildred Elley Pittsfield Campus Dean of Academic Affairs Sabrina Evangelisto that impacted her future. Evangelisto told Jones that "you are never too old to reach your dreams."
Although it was a challenge, due to her determination and the support from her family and friends she did just that, Jones said.
"Every day that I wake up and I put on my name badge to go to work. My determination will be to do the best that I can do for my patients and never leave their side at the time of need," Jones said. "I will make it my determination to be an advocate for them."
The founder and creator of the I GOT U brand Walter Boldish also addressed the graduates and told his own story that inspired the creation of his I GOT U brand.
He said the I GOT U brand works to spread the attitude of "helping others, lifting someone up, trusting a friend, and believing in a stranger that cares."
He said this philosophy stemmed from turmoil he faced in his own life including the death of his youngest daughter, Kenzie. After her passing, he attempted to commit suicide but a neighbor intervened.
He said that if his neighbor had not intervened he would not be standing before the graduates spreading his message of unity and inclusion.
After the death of his daughter, he refused counseling and continued to isolate himself until his friend Utah joined him on his evening runs. During these runs, he began to open up and share things he could not with his own family.
But after an accident, Utah became a quadriplegic.
Boldish said this did not stop the two from running together and Boldish ran a marathon pushing Utah the entire way raising money to send 23 orphans to Disney using the name Kenzie's Kindness in honor of his daughter.
Since then, Kenzie's Kindness has become a registered and legal 501c3 that raises funds to support different organizations like Special Olympics, Ronald McDonald House, Capital City Mission Homeless Rescue, and more.
What Boldish told the graduates to take from his experience is to seek help from others, they are never alone, and to know that they belong. There is a reason they are on this path.
At the end of the ceremony, the graduates turned their tassels and the room filled with applause and cheers.
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