Monroe College Graduation
Becomes a “Celebratory” Event
Monroe College’s New Rochelle campus, held earlier this month at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, had a scheduled commencement speaker of celebrity status, and a surprise speaker who also has worldwide name recognition.
Regular viewers of CNBC know Sharon Epperson as a business reporter for the television network. Epperson, who is also a New Rochelle resident, was invited to deliver the commencement speech. Her remarks encouraged students to think globally about their career choices and to embrace every professional opportunity – from unpaid internships to temporary assignments – as critical stepping stones to their chosen path in life.
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) paid a surprise visit to the ceremony which awarded 853 degrees to students from more than 23 countries and United States territories, including Puerto Rico and United States Virgin Islands.
“A year ago, I might have said: ‘This is a terrible time to be graduating. The worst time to get a job.’ But that was then. Today is filled with many new possibilities, many new opportunities, especially for you,” Epperson told the graduates and the families and guests that filled the 4,000-seat theatre.
“Sure the unemployment rate is still nearly 10%. You recently heard it on the news that only 41,000 private-sector jobs were created in May. But at least some are being created, not all lost! I know getting a job or getting settled in your new job may the main thing on your minds right now. But not finding the “perfect job” - or a full-time job -- right away isn’t such a bad thing.”
Epperson added that, “When I graduated, I wasn’t thinking about getting a job - I was thinking about getting experience...of getting a broader understanding of the people and world around me.” Upon her graduation, Epperson traveled the world to learn about different peoples and cultures. She said she had about ten internships between high school, college and graduate school. “I did so many that I remember a few folks saying to me: “Are you ever going to get a JOB, a J-O-B?” It wasn’t until graduation from graduate school that she landed that first “J-O-B” as an “omnijournalist” with Time magazine.
The unscheduled appearance by Sen. Schumer drew an enthusiastic and warm response from the audience. Echoing Epperson’s remarks of encouraging the graduates to test many waters in their search for a career, Schumer regaled the audience with a story about how he gave up a full scholarship, upon graduation from college, to travel and study around the world “for a girl.” As fate would have it, the romance ended when “the girl” met someone else on her own vacation. “Not only did I lose the scholarship, I lost the girl!” Schumer said in sharing his self-mocking anecdote.
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