By Philip Newman
Darys Estrella Mordan told a story that had to have been familiar to many of the hundreds of LaGuardia Community College graduates who accepted their diplomas last week.
Some 650 of the nearly 1,500 graduates of the class of 2008, representing 106 nations, took part in the commencement ceremony last Thursday in the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Mordan, the keynote speaker at the Long Island City school's 36th commencement and an alumna, told of arriving in the city at the age of 17 in 1987 and speaking little English.
“How can I possibly fit in this place?” she recalled asking herself as she walked through the teeming streets that were such a cultural shock from her rural homeland in the Dominican Republic.
Then came the years of hard work, late nights of study while working at jobs to make ends meet and confronting seemingly impossible goals.
LaGuardia Community College President Gail Mellow awarded the school's President's Medal to Mordan. Not only did Mordan survive academically, but became the first of her family to get a college degree.
That was only a start for Mordan. Having transferred to Vasser College from LaGuardia, she went on to become the first female CEO of the Dominican Republic stock exchange.
Mordan offered the graduates a few career tenets: believe in yourself, life is too short to waste it, do not stand on the sidelines, never sell your soul (always tell the truth), take risks and never forget your origins, including those who helped you along the way.
City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Woodside), in whose district LaGuardia is located, told the audience he was in familiar territory.
“I was also the first of my family to graduate from college,” said Gioia, who worked as a janitor and elevator operator to pay his way through college.
As always, the theater was packed to capacity with families and friends of the graduates. Families, many dressed grandly, began gathering behind barriers more than two hours before the doors opened.
As the stately strains of Edward Elgar's “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the auditorium, what seemed to be thousands of digital cameras were aimed at the cap-and-gown clad loved ones as they filed down steps to the stage.
When the time came to hand out diplomas, Peter Katopes, vice president of academic affairs at LaGuardia, kindly appealed to the audience to moderate their enthusiasm, explaining that extremely loud cheering tended to drown out the next graduate in line when giving the name and type of degree.
The audience representations appeared perhaps a bit more moderate than in some past years, but as time passed the screams of joy rose in volume.
Also, some of the graduates not only gave their names and fields of study, but clasped hands over their heads boxing champion-style and shouted such salutations as “Viva Colombia!” or “Thank you, Mother and Dad.”
Providing their own family standing ovation were Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Newman and their daughter, Ivy, of Elmhurst.
Their son, Sean, had just accepted a diploma in liberal arts.
Sean attended LaGuardia after the U.S. Army had sent him to Iraq twice and is now finished with active duty, although still in the Army Reserve.
“It's a great day,” said Mrs. Newman.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
