261 seniors savor PUC graduation ceremony

By CARLOS VILLATORO
Register Staff Writer

Tortillas? Good for tacos, even better for throwing.

Just ask any of the graduates who loaded up on the burrito-wrapping sensations and hurled them in the air during Pacific Union College’s

commencement ceremony Sunday.

Shouts of “Woo hoo!” cut the skies as did the tortillas during the graduation ceremony conducted at Commencement Grove high above the Angwin campus.

A flurry of text messaging, picture-taking, high-fives and emotional hugs was underway as the students prepared to line up for their ceremonial march.

Christal Nishikawa, 22, had a bit of trouble turning her neck as friends and family greeted her Sunday. The Hawaii native’s neck bore several elaborate leis, some made from dollar bills, and honor cords.

“I’m excited to be done,” said Nishikawa, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in French and an associate’s degree in music. “I will go home for the summer.”

Bernardo Malqued III gave jovial greetings to his fellow graduates, shaking their hands, giving hugs and complimenting them on the regalia draped around their shoulders.

“This is just the first step to a new beginning,” he said.

Malqued, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, said he plans to do missionary work soon.

His friends Marcy Trinidad, 21, and Jeffrey Abel, 21, both graduates of PUC’s nursing program, said they will look for jobs after enjoying the festivities a bit.

The first batch of tortillas sailed through the air as the students made their way to their assigned seats.

Pacific Union College President Richard Osborn offered a warm greeting to the class and announced that Sunday’s graduation ceremony at PUC will be his last.

Osborn is scheduled to step down as PUC president on June 30 in preparation for a new career as an associate director for the Senior College Commission of Western Association of Schools and Colleges in Alameda.

Valedictorian James Lee said he recalled that a speech he delivered during his high school graduation was full of optimism.

On Sunday Lee told his fellow students “We are going to start having to pay for our health insurance and all that stuff.”

“We are all moving on in life,” he said. “Growing is painful. But not without learning cool stuff. (Such as) how to turn a three-page paper into a five-page paper instantly.”

Lee let the laughs die down a little before continuing with his comical speech and told the group that he would not use the words milestone, road, chapter or journey in his address.

He ended the speech with “Bye!”

Keynote speaker James Chang, a retired judge who worked in Santa Clara County, posed a question for the graduates to ponder.

“Do you want a title or testimony?” he said. “Look at the pharaoh. He had the title, Moses had the testimony. What are you going to shoot for? The external trappings of success or to be one of God’s people?”

Chang told the students that they should focus on contribution instead of recognition and to “Focus on an audience of one. It means answer only to God.”

As the rest of the tortillas took to the skies, the 261 graduates of PUC ended one phase of their lives and began the next.

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