{"id":27017,"date":"2025-07-04T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=27017"},"modified":"2025-07-24T09:36:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T16:36:54","slug":"grads-take-stage-at-emotional-exciting-convocation-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2025\/07\/04\/grads-take-stage-at-emotional-exciting-convocation-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Grads take stage at emotional, exciting convocation ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some 1,200 graduating Camosun students crossed the stage in blue gowns in June to honour their achievement and celebrate in community. Held on the college\u2019s Interurban campus, six convocation ceremonies took place from Tuesday, June 17 until Thursday, June 19 and were organized by each of Camosun\u2019s six schools and centres. This year, over 2,000 students graduated from the college.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Camosun Strategy, Planning, and Transformation executive director Jennifer Stone says that in addition to student success, the convocation ceremony recognizes the support networks that bolster students\u2019 post-secondary accomplishment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love the energy of Camosun convocations because I just find them really family friendly, and it\u2019s about celebrating everyone,\u201d says Stone. \u201cObviously, we\u2019re there to celebrate the students, and they\u2019re amazing accomplishments, but I think we also give a lot of credence to family and friends\u2026 who are there and help students get through it\u2026 So to me, the energy is just such a celebration of accomplishment and support. I just find it super positive. It\u2019s honestly hard not to get emotionally wrapped up in it because it\u2019s so special.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27018\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27018\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27018\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-700x467.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/54613915848_5cd4560efe_o-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27018\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students enjoying the convocation ceremonies at Camosun (photo by Camosun College).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stone says this year\u2019s convocation theme, \u201cYour path to success,\u201d is a reminder of the nuanced fulfillment that students can find before and after their time at Camosun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s many different paths to success, and there\u2019s many different definitions of what success is to each and every student,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd so what I find so great about Camosun is that we create space for that, and we celebrate that, whatever that means to each and every student. What their path to success might look like is going to be different from the student sitting next to them, or what my journey to success might look like, or how I might define that. And it\u2019s finding that for themselves, and creating space for that, and the right support, and the right service to see that through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stone says the ceremonies were executed superbly, thanks to the planning committee as well as the staff and faculty who attended the event in support of this year\u2019s graduates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think our planning committee\u2026 did an incredible job in terms of thinking of every detail and planning ahead and making sure that guests felt welcome, and each event has its own personality a little bit. So I think they do such a great job of planning for that and making sure those events run really smoothly,\u201d she says. \u201cI was super impressed all the way through. I went to every single convocation event, and it was incredible to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Convocation ceremonies offer graduates an opportunity for collective celebration, Stone says. As a witness to the event, she has seen convocation provide joyful closure for students and attendees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful way to celebrate with your family and your friends, and it\u2019s their opportunity to be a part of that journey in that celebration of that journey with you. There\u2019s something, to me, magical about watching students cross the stage. I see them go up the ramp, I see them receive their little certificate and shake hands with our board chair and president, and there\u2019s something that happens when they come down the ramp. And just being able to be a part of\u2026 that pride and that celebration is really powerful,\u201d she says. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great way to wrap up your time at Camosun and celebrate all of that hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Students often bring their unique flair on stage\u2014a dance move, a zany gesture, a sentimental belonging. Stone says this year her favourite moments were those that honoured family and nationality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s some lovely examples of students holding up flags from home countries, which is great. Then you can always hear their cheering section go wild, which is always super fun. One particular student brought a lovely portrait of her grandfather that she carried across the stage, and that was quite emotional, I think, for a lot of people. It was quite profound what she did, carrying that across the stage. And I always love seeing moms and dads walk across the stage with their kids,\u201d says Stone. \u201cI just think that\u2019s so cool when they\u2019re able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some 1,200 graduating Camosun students crossed the stage in blue gowns in June to honour their achievement and celebrate in community. Held on the college\u2019s Interurban campus, six convocation ceremonies took place from Tuesday, June 17 until Thursday, June 19 and were organized by each of Camosun\u2019s six schools and centres. This year, over 2,000 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,334],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","category-july-2-2025"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27019,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27017\/revisions\/27019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}