LEWISTON — Wayne and Carol Heroux of Harrison are proud of their son, who graduated from Central Maine Community College on Thursday with a degree in electromechanical technology.

It’s not just pride, though. They also admire the way 20-year-old Justin Wayne Heroux has been managing his life — charting out a plan and then getting it done.

“He did it all himself,” Wayne said. “He had his own apartment. He had a full-time job and he went to school. He was very determined.”

“And he did it in a way that he didn’t end up with a lot of debt,” Carol Heroux said. “A lot of people don’t seem to realize these two-year colleges are out there.”

They’re out there, all right. At the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, the college graduated another 567 students in their 52nd commencement ceremony.

“But (it’s) more than just numbers,” said Roger Philippon, dean of planning and public affairs. “We are proud to have had a hand in changing so many lives for the better and improving the workforce of the state of Maine.”

As always, the graduating class was a mixture of young people just starting out, retired folks getting back into action and a whole lot of people in between.

Adriane Kramer, already a successful fitness instructor in Lewiston, decided to go back to school to get more education. She graduated Thursday night with presidential honors in business.

“The support from family, friends and my extended family was what pushed me every time I thought about stopping,” Kramer said. “Also knowing my daughter would watch me walk across that stage was enough to say, ‘I will go to the end!'”

Kramer plans to continue her education in the fall at the University of Southern Maine.

In her commencement address, Danielle Ripich compared the personal growth of each student to the growth of the college itself over the decades.

“Back in 1966, when Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute moved to CMCC’s current campus, the college offered four programs, in  auto mechanics, building construction, industrial electricity and architectural drafting,” Ripich said. “Its first class of graduates consisted of six members.

“Today, CMCC offers more than two dozen programs that together enroll more than 3,000 students each year,” she said. “And your graduating class includes 567 members. You are part of this legacy.

“Just as Central Maine Community College has grown to play a vital role in the education of Maine students and in the Maine economy,” she said, “each of you has grown during your time here.”

Ripich, president of the University of New England, announced earlier in the week that she would step down from that position.

She told the students Thursday night that she has a special fondness for schools like CMCC, which tend to cater to nontraditional and traditional students,

“I can appreciate how far each of you has traveled to reach this point,” Ripich said. “In my own life, I watched my mother earn an associate’s degree at night and her example made me believe I could go to school with three children — at 23 — to earn my bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. She inspired me — and you inspire all of us.”

The students who graduated Thursday did so with with a variety of degrees, from accounting and computer technology to medical coding and precision machining.

“The world needs your skills and ability,” Ripich told them. “And Maine is lucky to have you.”

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