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Holyoke Community College graduates applauded for overcoming challenges | GazetteNET
One Southampton family had a lot to celebrate at the Holyoke Community College commencement Saturday. Two of the 1,100 graduates who stepped out to "Pomp and Circumstance" were mother and daughter.
Kelli Coopeee, 42, and her daughter, Brittani Coopee, 21, both received associates degrees at the college's 64th commencement. Kelli Coopee finished her nursing degree after attending classes on and off since 1994, while raising her five children and working as a nurse at Holyoke Medical Center.
After being inspired by her mother's profession and working with her at the medical center, Brittani Coopee received a pre-health degree and hopes to get into the nursing program at the college to become an registered nurse like her mother.
"It just happened that way," Kelli Coopee said of graduating with her daughter. "I think it's been fun. I've been able to help her some, and will continue to."
Brittani Coopee agreed. "She helps me study sometimes," she said. "Watching her find time to do all that schoolwork over the years was inspiring."
The ability of graduates to overcome obstacles in getting a degree was the theme of the day. "We've been inspired by the ways in which you overcame so many hurdles and difficulties," history professor Diane Beers told graduates. "Hurdles of poverty, disabilities, addiction and long, long, long work hours and many others."
Beers, who received this year's Elaine Marieb Faculty Chair for Teaching Excellence, admitted she was shocked to find out recently that one of her students was homeless for the entire semester. "Yet somehow, this student managed not only to get to class, not only to participate in class, but ultimately to earn a B+ as a final grade," she said to applause. "I was truly, truly inspired by this student."
Heidi Martin-Coleman, who received a certificate in deaf studies at the ceremony, shared her own experiences reclaiming her life through education after an illness caused her to become deaf and nearly took her life. She shared the stage with her service dog, a black Labrador named Mercury, and the audience greeted her with the American Sign Language sign for applause, shaking their open palms up at the stage.
Before a genetic disease changed her life, Martin-Coleman was a mother of three and a successful developmental nurse educator for children. Then she and her youngest child were diagnosed with mitochondrial myopathy, a maternally inheritable genetic disease with an impact ranging from undetectable to fatal. Her daughter died the week of her third birthday.
In 2007, Martin-Coleman was discharged from the hospital after extensive treatment to spend what were expected to be her last days at home with hospice care. She waited. "Then suddenly, it hit me: I'm still alive," she told her classmates. "I had two choices: sit at home and spend my days thinking about my illness or be grateful for every new day."
She said her decision to take a class at HCC introduced her to a community of administrators, professors and other staff who welcomed her and treated her like a peer, not a sick person.
"They looked at me and saw a successful, professional woman, not a person in a wheelchair," she said. "The most important tool for my survival, next to my faith and my family, was education. Holyoke Community College made an indelible mark on my life."
Martin-Coleman plans to continue volunteering as a tutor to deaf students at HCC, and will begin taking graduate classes in the fall. "My illness is progressive... I don't know what the future holds for me, but of this I am certain: this will always be my community, and my community college," she said.
A second student orator, Andrew Israel Del Valle, spoke about challenges he faced in high school that brought him to the brink of dropping out. Then he discovered the Gateway to College program at HCC, where students can take classes for both high school and college credit.
Del Valle excelled at HCC, something he credits to his professors. "They engaged me, they changed me," he said. "They have not only educated me, but have given me the support to push for more."
With their support and a lot of hard work, Del Valle received both his high school diploma and his associate's degree this spring. He will attend the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston in the fall to pursue a bachelor's degree in art.
Del Valle said that after feeling isolated at his high school, the supportive community at HCC was the key to his success. "The HCC community is truly the epitome of the community within the college," he said. "And that feeling of being a part of a community is what I truly needed these past few years."
One Southampton family had a lot to celebrate at the Holyoke Community College commencement Saturday. Two of the 1,100 graduates who stepped out to "Pomp and Circumstance" were mother and daughter.
Kelli Coopeee, 42, and her daughter, Brittani Coopee, 21, both received associates degrees at the college's 64th commencement. Kelli Coopee finished her nursing degree after attending classes on and off since 1994, while raising her five children and working as a nurse at Holyoke Medical Center.
After being inspired by her mother's profession and working with her at the medical center, Brittani Coopee received a pre-health degree and hopes to get into the nursing program at the college to become an registered nurse like her mother.
"It just happened that way," Kelli Coopee said of graduating with her daughter. "I think it's been fun. I've been able to help her some, and will continue to."
Brittani Coopee agreed. "She helps me study sometimes," she said. "Watching her find time to do all that schoolwork over the years was inspiring."
The ability of graduates to overcome obstacles in getting a degree was the theme of the day. "We've been inspired by the ways in which you overcame so many hurdles and difficulties," history professor Diane Beers told graduates. "Hurdles of poverty, disabilities, addiction and long, long, long work hours and many others."
Beers, who received this year's Elaine Marieb Faculty Chair for Teaching Excellence, admitted she was shocked to find out recently that one of her students was homeless for the entire semester. "Yet somehow, this student managed not only to get to class, not only to participate in class, but ultimately to earn a B+ as a final grade," she said to applause. "I was truly, truly inspired by this student."
Heidi Martin-Coleman, who received a certificate in deaf studies at the ceremony, shared her own experiences reclaiming her life through education after an illness caused her to become deaf and nearly took her life. She shared the stage with her service dog, a black Labrador named Mercury, and the audience greeted her with the American Sign Language sign for applause, shaking their open palms up at the stage.
Before a genetic disease changed her life, Martin-Coleman was a mother of three and a successful developmental nurse educator for children. Then she and her youngest child were diagnosed with mitochondrial myopathy, a maternally inheritable genetic disease with an impact ranging from undetectable to fatal. Her daughter died the week of her third birthday.
In 2007, Martin-Coleman was discharged from the hospital after extensive treatment to spend what were expected to be her last days at home with hospice care. She waited. "Then suddenly, it hit me: I'm still alive," she told her classmates. "I had two choices: sit at home and spend my days thinking about my illness or be grateful for every new day."
She said her decision to take a class at HCC introduced her to a community of administrators, professors and other staff who welcomed her and treated her like a peer, not a sick person.
"They looked at me and saw a successful, professional woman, not a person in a wheelchair," she said. "The most important tool for my survival, next to my faith and my family, was education. Holyoke Community College made an indelible mark on my life."
Martin-Coleman plans to continue volunteering as a tutor to deaf students at HCC, and will begin taking graduate classes in the fall. "My illness is progressive... I don't know what the future holds for me, but of this I am certain: this will always be my community, and my community college," she said.
A second student orator, Andrew Israel Del Valle, spoke about challenges he faced in high school that brought him to the brink of dropping out. Then he discovered the Gateway to College program at HCC, where students can take classes for both high school and college credit.
Del Valle excelled at HCC, something he credits to his professors. "They engaged me, they changed me," he said. "They have not only educated me, but have given me the support to push for more."
With their support and a lot of hard work, Del Valle received both his high school diploma and his associate's degree this spring. He will attend the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston in the fall to pursue a bachelor's degree in art.
Del Valle said that after feeling isolated at his high school, the supportive community at HCC was the key to his success. "The HCC community is truly the epitome of the community within the college," he said. "And that feeling of being a part of a community is what I truly needed these past few years."