May graduates hear TCC student, faculty
by Chris Taylor, editor in chief

    Approximately 800 TCC students celebrated their final day as TCC students at the Fort Worth Convention Center May 17.

    At the ceremonies, TCC also honored a professor from each campus with the Chancellor’s Award for Exemplary Teaching: Chris Goebel, SE Campus; Patricia McCormick, South Campus; Dr. Cordell Parker, NE Campus, and Dr. Laura Wood, NW Campus.

    Wood and NW student Brandie Rainey delivered commencement speeches.

    Rainey, speaking as a representative of the 2,060 members of the class of 2001, wanted to dispel the notion that TCC is “not a real college.”

    “I have not found a single college that makes a student feel as at home as Tarrant County College does,” Rainey said.

    After graduating from TCC, Rainey will be attending the University of Texas at Dallas on a full scholarship.

    “I plan to move on and make TCC as proud of me as I am of it,” she said.

    During her speech, Rainey described TCC as “a training facility for life, and I would not be the person I am today without it.”

    She concluded her speech by asking students, “Now your future is left in your hands. What will you do with it? In the words of a wise man, it is what you do with it.”

    During her speech to the graduates, Wood shared her love of teaching.

    “Teaching students allows me to make a difference in students’ lives and thus my community,” she said.

    She told the graduates to “feel proud of your accomplishments.”

    Wood also urged the graduates to “find what motivates and enthuses you, and pursue it with gusto.”