The Patriot Ledger // Published May 21, 2022 // By Fred Hanson
QUINCY – If Gov. Charlie Baker didn’t know he had a tough act to follow as Quincy College’s commencement speaker, he got a reminder shortly into his speech at Friday’s ceremony.
Last year, when Granite Telecommunications President Rob Hale had the honor, he gave each graduate $1,000 – $500 to keep and $500 for a person or organization who needed it more.
Baker had said he didn’t remember a single word said at his high school, college or graduate school graduation. A member of the graduating class suggested off-mike that following Hale’s lead would help them remember his words. The governor begged off, saying he was a humble public servant.
But he did have some words of advice for the 460 graduates who would receive associate degrees and certificates at the college’s 64th annual commencement at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“Nobody handed this to you,” Baker said. “You earned it.”
He encouraged them to team up with people who bring out their best, and not to be afraid to fail, citing his unsuccessful first campaign for governor in 2010.
“The path in life is rarely a straight line,” he said.
Baker also cited the importance of debate and discussion in a democratic society.
“These days, I wonder if we’ve forgotten that,” said Baker, who will leave office in January.
The governor said his Republican father and his Democrat mother didn’t agree on everything, and they had sharp differences when it came to politics. But they respected those differences.
“You don’t have to agree. But if you listen, you might be surprised by what you learn,” Baker said.
He concluded by saying, “I know it’s not $1,000, but I hope you take something out of that that’s worth a few bucks.”
Student speaker Sarah Nisbet, of Scituate, recounted her personal journey during her years at the college, from shy newcomer to a student leader. Graduating with an associate degree in accounting, she said her education is the best investment she has made.
“You don’t have to graduate from a fancy college to have a successful career,” said Nisbet, who works for Fidelity Investments. “Just a willingness to work hard.”
College President Richard DeCristofaro said the graduates should be proud of their efforts and success.
“We are proud of you,” DeCristofaro said. “You have built a foundation as solid as Quincy granite.”
Mayor Thomas Koch expressed his personal and the city’s congratulations to the graduates.
The Class of 2022
Abington – Samiha Elrharib, Meghan Kelly, Christine McKenzie, Brooke Picariello, Mireline Thermidor, Jude Viaud
Attleboro – Joshua Markievitz, Patrick Pickering
Auburndale – Marie Cassagnol
Barnstable – Martha Gruhn
Bedford – Jennifer Klein
Belmont – Ghufran Alzeyadi
Boston – Rameika Bertrand, Gebreyohannis Birketa, Cassey Bullard, Aleisha Conille, Bryant Daye, Wilson De Pina, Kattiana Denis, Ronda Desravines, Melissa Duhaney, Shannon Flaherty, Aisha Gibrine, Tyniese Holmes, Charkezia Hyatt, Caulene Gardner, Bryant James, Shonda Jordan, Aimad Kalda, Sarah Malone, Marikha Mehu, Catrina Murphy, Jacques Noel, Ricardo Petion, Royfael Ramnarain Jr., Lynn Rene, Monique Rodrigues, Tony Santos, Christopher Semedo, Khalid Sherrod, Jerome Stephens, Erica Teixeira, April Urban, Mariana Viruez, Emily Wilson, Michal Wojcik
Braintree – Mohannad Alhoty, Brianna Barbosa-Freire, Hannah Bernasconi, Sean Coose, Rebecca Correia, Gabriel Cubillas, Bret Giannetti, Symphony Hall, Kenny Joseph, Subeen Jung, Keti Patel, Tram Pham, Nicholas Zingaro
Bridgewater – Farrah Auguste, Jonathan Bell, Rita Maurin
Brighton – Jacklyn Chesny, Hanna Getu, Ratana Ros
Brockton – Ashley Alves, Saberna Cuevas, Christian Emile, Kevin Ferreira Cabral, Anne Fevrier, Ciara Gonzalez, Paul Hollis, Gyesla Jean, Erika Mathieu, Jungmin Nam, Misoo Nam, Doan Nguyen, Tarina Ornellas, Jeffrey Rene
Brookline – Yemisrach Yehuala
Cambridge – Jihan Layla, Aklilu Mamo, Jamila Parveen, Md Rahman, Nelofar Yesmin
Canton – Curtis Adams, David Shea, Daniel Sheil, Rebecca Stoffer
Carver – Brian Abatiello, Miranda Giorgio, Michela Giorgio, Michele Izzo, Andrew Roy, Mckayla Willett
Chatham – Abigail Lacock
Chelmsford – Pragya Malla Shrestha
Chelsea – Allison McGarity
Cohasset – Tracy Fondanova, Donlop Munnings
Dartmouth – Julius Jonassaint,
Dedham – Kathleen Foley, Yajaira Matus, Meaghan Michel, Benjamin Williams
Dighton – Nicole Baker
Dorchester – Lisa Andrade, Tori Bacote, Emale Barbosa, Nyeshia Beech, Makenzie Broderick, Sean Gilligan, Shalixa Johnson, Steven Kovaleski, Cheryl Lashley, Bryana Le, Amanda LeBlanc, Tamara Licorish, Keula Lopes, Jennifer McDonough, Leah Mills, Adeola Olatunji, Stephanie Rivera, Kayla Rochalski, Kaminie Singh, Idaleen Vargas, Petrina Walker, Brendan McCarthy
Duxbury – Eric DeFilippis, Brittney Flood, Cullen Petit DeMange
East Bridgewater – Danielle Nash
Easton – Jessica Cardenas, Kyle Johnson, Adelsa Dos Santos
Everett – Khasandra Gentle, Joliane Kibamba Yezoua, Marie Lubrun, Rajesh Maharjan, Sreejana Neupane Parajuli
Fairhaven – Amanda Paulson
Fall River – Louis Alexander III
Falmouth – Conor O’Brien
Foxboro – Sadie Giers, Shawn Linton
Framingham – Kyle Abreu, Scott Griffin
Halifax – Taylor Gleason, Emily Ibbitson, Karen Keeler, Robert Mullen, Adam Salamone
Hanover – Joshua Cormier, Amanda Rattigan, Timothy Smith
Hanson – Jessica Blanchard, Asia Fernandez
Hingham – Heather McAuliffe, Brittany Morissette, Carrie Sullivan
Holbrook – Katerina Arocho, Serena Brown, Brittany Carter, Devin O’Garro, Jorge Ribeiro-Desouza
Hopedale – Kate Meomartino
Hopkinton – Thea Hird
Hull – Alanna Connors-Duffy
Hyannis – Tirsna Rai
Kingston – Jenna Bergeron, Andrew Burke, Valerie Caizzi, Nicole Huard, Kylie MacInnis, Dana O’Brien, Tia Williams
Leominster – Gaelle Aristil
Lynn – Shawn Garner, Zlatan Knezevic
Malden – Halima Et Taib, Kenny Florez Suarez
Mansfield – Damani Scott-Hankerson
Marion – Sarah Murdoch
Marlboro – Frandley Gabriel
Marshfield – Ashley Abdallah, Alexandra DoCanto, Amy Durkee, Rebecca Michalowski, Lucy Weinberg, John Yaeger
Mashpee – Elisa Pasquino
Mattapan – Lynda Alexis, Chidozie Brendan, Chinedum Brendan, Robenia Chambers, Barbara Jean-Baptiste, Louidor Michel, Jessica Rebecca, Jaimie Taylor-Brown
Maynard – Francesca Gray
Medfield – Jorge Aurichi
Medford – Gabriela Deoliveira-Gomes, Sheila Millien, Josema Pierre
Medway – Richard White
Middleboro – Nicole Blunt, Leah Kilrow, Susan Randall
Milton – Ethan Johnson, Brian Kennedy, David Llewellyn, Briannah Menelas
New Bedford – Onur Bicak, Lena Cote
Newton – Michelle Landers, Reimon Sato, Matthew Skinner
Norwell – Maxwell Abbate, Patrick Birmingham, Terrance Low
Norwood – Belinda Adjei, Giovannie Antenor, Kayla Augenstene, Kenneth Conley, Laprema Gilbert-Dunn, Eron Kennebrew, Gianna Moreira, Renee Plummer
Oxford – Bennesa Decambre-Hayden
Pembroke – Brandon Jackson, Cheyenne Luce, Silvia Stephan
Plainville – Stanislaus Miklaszewski
Plymouth – Alyssa Barker, Andrew Deane, Geena Downie, Kassidy Duncan, Thomas Faulkner, Andre Feliciano, Hannah Figlioli, Valerie Hackett, Nichole Henderson, Daniel Jenkins, Pamela Kane, Stefanie Loring, Christopher Mearls, Alexis Petersen, Leonardo Petri, Sandra Sheehan, Dylan Taggart, Nathan Val, Emma Whall, Marissa Wiley
Plympton – Craig Framer
Quincy – Dagm Assefa, Abderrahmene Belbachir, Lisa Belcher, John Benoit, Marie Catiana Bien-Aime, Kelly Bishop, Kelcie Bither, Bryanna Blackman, Ashkan Bradaranhagh, Tomorrow Briddell, Isabelle Buchanan, Jasmine Caple, Odili Cepeda Gutierrez, Mandy Chen, Jessica Chieng, Jacky Chong, Cassandra Davis, Colleen Davis, Griffan Dejesus, Louis DeVita, Gianpiero Di Rito, Kylie Donnelly, Huyen Duong, Kelly Eisenhauer, Kelsey Fair, Jennifer Farnsworth, Ermira Floqi, Edil Flores, Jessica Fonseca, Michael Golden, Christopher Golden, Lucas Gomes, Christopher Govoni, Antonella Gulla, Nhi Ha, Hanane Hammoussi, Brendan Hansbury, Yuhan He, Inna Holosinska, Sahaphab Hongsaluek, Steven Honrado-Foster, Leticia Ilo, Joshua Ingemi, Rojin Jahangirian, Martin Jimenez, Ethan Johns, Allison Karam, Courtney Kennedy, Steven La, Ryan Larsen, Thi Le, Xiaojing Li, Vivian Liang de Wu, Alison Littlefield, Jialu Liu, Heather Loomis, Desiree Lopes, Jenna Markow, Chantae Maynard, Bryan McGillicuddy, Theresa McNicol, Dara Moreira, Mariem Moufallah, Carolina Munoz, Hong Ni, Anne Normile, Kacey O’Malley, Kathleen O’Neil, Michael Oldham, Patrick Orr, Boutaina Ouariki, Riley Pascarelli, Kalgi Patel, Alyssa Picot, Jaclyn Pitts, Kevin Quinn, Alexander Reid, Antonio Reid, Erin Richardson, Tina Riley, Celma Rodrigues, Claudia Santos, Ryan Sempiana-McWade, Christine Suarez, Chelsey Sulham, Lauri Sullivan, Hua Sun, Leoneta Tashi, Kristen Topalli, Phuong Tran, Emily Van Tassell, Jasmine Vazquez Burgos, Yingcheng Zeng, Danni Zou
Randolph – Amabel Cadeau, Latoria Carswell, Christy Cesar, Triet Chau, Abel Exantus, Craig Grissett, Daija` Kirkland, Nikkira Nelson, Dieny Sainval, Linh Tang, Joanne Thoby, Amondee Weaver
Raynham – Francesca Belval
Revere – Tadele Debelie, Abdelmoula Douhi
Rockland – Olivia Ciampa
Sandwich – Stephanie Spicuzza
Scituate – Peter Kent, Sarah Nisbet, Courtney Smith
Somerville – Kabita Bhatta Karkheti
Southwick – Lindsey Terva
Stoughton – Paola Charles, Taylor Joe, Youdelene Joseph, Jennifer McCaffrey, Nneoma Osibe, Ashley Russo, Liana Tomak
Taunton – Charlene Rodrigues, Matthew Sheehan, Nancy Smith, Demetrios Vozella
Tyngsboro – Ana Paula Mota-Amaral
West Roxbury – Rose Caton, Joshua De La Rosa, James O’Brien, Ryan Wilson
Wareham – Cassandra Mulroy
Weymouth – Lindsay Amrock, Richard Anderson, Nicole Baldwin, Jessica Barbosa, Derek Brickey, Tamicka Brown, Emily Bruno, Kieanna Burton, Brian Butterworth, Julia Bykowski, Julia Campbell, Christine Champagne, Haley Clifford, Kristin Connelly, Danae Curry-Stubbs, Christopher Dindy, Catrina Dunbar, Nicole Feist, Brandi Freeman, Amanda Galvin, Cassandra Hemeon, Joshua Holbrook. Christian Ingargiola, Sherrill Keenan, Harikela Lako, George Martell, Matthew Martin, Courtney Mason, Cameron Mason, Shayla McCarthy, Kathleen McDonald, Paul Mullaney, Cam Nguyen, Jameal Okeowo, John Osterman, Jacob Petersen, Steven Philippe, Danielle Preston, James Pumphret, Jieling Ruan, Moutabir Slassi, Michele Tran, Timothy Ziniti.
Whitman – Jason Coronella, Wilkerson Guerrier, Juanita Santa Maria
Winthrop – Mohammed Naoumi, Aida Ouabdesselam
Woburn – Cori Howe, Jamie Welsh
Worcester – Darrin Buggs
Connecticut – Rodger Bergeron
New York – Artenisa Zeneli, David Darling
Rhode Island – Milka Kabeya, Bryan Ostergren
Tennessee – Nikhil Patel
Texas – Jaclyn Merchant
Virginia – Mercedes Edwards