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Juan Cruz Parisi Sitjar knows what it takes to win. More importantly, like all champions, he knows how to take a loss. If you ask him, he’ll tell you learning how to move on from your losses is more important than celebrating your wins, and he’s had plenty of experience with both.

Born in Argentina in 1995, Parisi Sitjar learned to cope with adversity early in life. When he was five years old, his father was nearly killed at work by gunfire. The experience was so traumatic, the family moved across the Atlantic Ocean to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to find a better place to raise Parisi Sitjar

Kevin Becerra-Cardoza excelled at everything he put his mind to as a student at �Թ�tv (�Թ�tv), including being named to the President’s List, the Dean’s List and being inducted into four national honor societies.

He didn’t let any opportunity to learn and grow as a �Թ�tv student go to waste, filling his undergraduate career with club organizations like the Student Government Association, the Organization for Latin American Students, the Volleyball Club and the Four Pillar Society.

“My involvement in these organizations helped drive my passion for helping others, leadership

When she was a young girl growing up in Nigeria, Chenanniah Mac-Cephas wanted to be one of the youngest lawyers ever to pass the bar exam.

“That’s what my dad and I would talk about, and that was what I thought at the time would bring me financial freedom,” said Mac-Cephas. “Well, financial freedom in the sense of what a nine-year-old thought it was.”

She was on the right track to accomplishing that through much of her youth. Her parents enrolled her in Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) school, and she exceeded the expected goals so much that she was able to skip the third grade.

There was an air of excitement this morning when more than 650 �Թ�tv (�Թ�tv) students turned the tassels on their graduation caps at the college’s spring 2023 commencement.

Many of them went through challenges to cross the finish line of their college career. That fact was not lost on commencement speaker Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd, who spoke to students about turning challenges into opportunities. Shepherd, an international expert in weather and climate, talked about his experiences as an African American raised by a single mother in Cherokee County, who went on to work for

Sam Kaplan, 72, of Lawrenceville, has added many items to his resume over the years. On May 11, he will have another addition – college graduate.

“This is my first undergraduate degree,” said Kaplan. “I’m the first of my seven siblings to earn a degree.”

Kaplan, who graduated from high school in 1969, had not considered college. He worked in various roles. He ran a cleaning service and then a telemarketing company. He worked in customer service for a wholesale distributor of electronics. He even drove a taxi part time.

At 68 years old, he decided to go back to school, the beginning of

Alexis McMillian has always been keenly aware of the tragedies and comedies of life, so it’s no wonder she felt pulled toward film from a very young age.

A child of the foster care system, the odds were stacked against her from the beginning; but when she was five months old, she was taken in by a foster family and stole their hearts. They adopted her when she was about two years old.

“No writer gets to produce their first script,” said McMillian. “Rewrites are inevitable. My first rewrite occurred in my early childhood years, following my experience in the foster care system and my

�Թ�tv (�Թ�tv) is taking steps to increase retention and graduation rates among a population that has historically dealt with challenges by hosting the Inaugural African American Male Initiative (AAMI) Summit, held April 28 on the college’s campus.

The event, sponsored by �Թ�tv’s AAMI-Elite Scholars program, created a forum for African American males to share experiences and discuss positive solutions. Throughout the day, students shared their perspectives about the challenges they face as well as the support they have received through AAMI.

Workshops and breakout sessions focused

Camille Covarrubias spent most of her life in Mérida, Venezuela, a small city in the middle of the Andes mountains. Steep green hillsides rise high from the edges of the town and end in sharp rows of snow-capped mountains. It was a beautiful place to grow up, breathing crisp mountain air and enjoying mild temperatures year-round.

After high school, she became a nursing student, inspired by her grandparents, who were both doctors.

“I remember sitting in my grandma’s office, who was an anatomy professor, and having endless conversations about the human body and how it functions,” said

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for health care professionals over the next decade, translating to more than two million new job openings in the next ten years and another two million openings projected to come from growth and replacement needs. The median wage for health care practitioners and technical occupations was $75,000 in 2021, while the median annual salary for all occupations was $45,760.

�Թ�tv (�Թ�tv) launched a new degree program in 2020, allowing students to capitalize on that opportunity. Its first cohort of students

Of all the students who will walk in �Թ�tv’s (�Թ�tv) graduation ceremony on May 11, it’s safe to say few have traveled farther than Nana Afia Serwaa Oppong to receive her degree.

Oppong grew up in Ghana in West Africa. Her hometown is the small village of Bonwire (pronounced “bon-ray”), where the most popular cloth in Africa, known as “Kente,” originated. According to legend, two brothers from the town learned how to weave the fabric by watching how a spider spun its web. It is a quintessentially African place, scenic and hilly with a vast tropical rainforest running