IVINS — Despite strong winds that tousled robes and threatened to tear off graduation caps, the commencement ceremony for Dixie Technical College wasn’t blown off course as graduates and their families filled the Tuacahn Amphitheatre on Thursday evening.

The Rebel Jazz Band played “Pomp and Circumstance” as graduates filed into the amphitheater, entering as groups based on their certificate program. 

The 2022 graduation recognized all students who had completed programs since May of last year, acknowledging those who finished months ago, those who recently completed their certification and even those who will finish their programs in a few short weeks.

All told, more than 700 students were recognized during the proceedings – breaking by a wide margin the record set last year for the largest graduating class. Approximately 390 graduates were in attendance to receive their certificates in person.

 Once everyone was seated, Jordan Rushton, vice president of instruction at Dixie Tech, welcomed the graduates, their loved ones, instructors and honored community guests. 

Rushton recognized Heather Johnson as the Dixie Tech Student of the Year for 2022, and invited her instructor in the Drafting and Design program to introduce her to the audience. Instructor Bill McMurrin praised Johnson’s thoughtful approach to her work as well as the quality of her designs.

When Johnson took the podium, she related her life experiences to her fellow graduates, highlighting all the ways she and her classmates are similar despite outward appearances.

“We’re all so different,” Johnson said. “Most of you are so young, I could probably be your mom. We all have very different lives and situations and aspirations. But that’s when I realized that there is one thing that we all have in common and that is our challenges.”

She returned to higher education after a two-decade break to raise five children and support her husband in his career. As a young adult, Johnson had earned a scholarship to play college basketball at Harvard before a devastating knee injury sidelined her collegiate dreams.

She took a risk and changed her plans, finding happiness in new opportunities and experiences she hadn’t necessarily planned for. Using the analogy of a map and compass, Johnson encouraged students to plan a  life “roadmap” but to use their personal values, beliefs and ideals as a compass to navigate when their roadmap doesn’t reflect their current circumstances.

“The next time that your life map says recalculating, just smile and pull out your personal compass and navigate your own way through the trees to your next destination on the map,” Johnson said.

Following the student speaker, Dixie Tech arranged for alumnus Ricardo Damian to inspire the new graduates with his post-graduation story.

Damian spoke about the opportunities earned through his certificate and the advice his father gave him that shaped his career: to always do his best, no matter what. 

While the commencement ceremony represented a beginning for new graduates, it also served as a formal send-off to President Kelle Stephens. The students would be graduating to their new careers, while Stephens was graduating from her career, she said.

As the keynote speaker, Stephens’ remarks centered around nine rules for living a successful life that she had adopted from multiple sources. After introducing each rule as follows, she related them back to principles of accountability, integrity, hard work and gratitude.

1. Always make your bed first thing in the morning
2. Never settle for mediocrity
3. When you pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the other
4. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well
5. Don’t gin up excuses
6. You are too poor to buy cheap
7. If you’ll negotiate everything, you’ll never stand for anything
8. You have to live with yourself and so you have to be fit for yourself to know. You have to be willing as days go by, ALWAYS to look yourself square in the eye
9. Think to thank

Rushton returned to the podium after Stephens concluded her address, inviting her back to be recognized for her 30 years of service to vocational education in Southern Utah. Then, Stephens joined Chair Gil Almquist and Vice Chair Stephen Wade of the Dixie Technical College Board of Trustees to hand out certificates to each graduate as they were announced on stage.

Once the certificates were awarded and the closing remarks were offered, the graduates moved their tassels to the left side of their caps, cheering and tossing them aloft. 

Abuzz with excitement, the crowd of new graduates made their way out of their seats to join family members, friends and instructors above the amphitheater. Many were relating their experiences to loved ones and remembering the lessons they learned at Dixie Tech.

Andrew Burch, an 18-year-old graduate of the welding program, told St. George News that he started at Dixie Tech just a few months before an early high school graduation in 2021. Burch chose to continue his training at the technical college, grateful for the opportunity to prepare for his future career without taking on student debt.

“Dixie Tech has helped quite a bit,” Burch said. “Honestly, it’s taken my knowledge of every process and increased it tenfold. It’s given me all the experience I need to get into the workforce and be confident in what I’m doing for my job.”

The vast majority of the graduating class was able to complete their education entirely debt-free and with a job that matched their training. Phoebe Johnson, a graduate of the medical assisting program, said she was thankful for instructors’ dedication and for the career opportunities Dixie Tech had secured for her, including an externship that aligns with her studies.

As a parting gift, each graduate was given a copy of the essay, “A Message to Garcia,” which tells the story of a U.S. Army soldier showing determination and resourcefulness in the face of a daunting mission to deliver a message to an insurgent general during the Spanish-American war.

Stephens spoke about the book at length, encouraging graduates to take after the example of the main character in the story and to adopt the same qualities espoused by the book in their own lives.

“Your last assignment from Dixie tech is to read that little book and share it with the people that are important in your life,” she said. “I’m sending you off with my love, with my deepest respect and with my confidence in you for the wonderful future that I know lies ahead. Thank you graduates for sticking it out, for being here tonight, celebrating this and letting me celebrate it with you.”

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.