In all, 233 new college graduates were eligible to receive their degrees in front of family and friends. Of the graduates, 64 received associate of science degrees; 49 received of associate of applied science degrees and there were 63 diploma recipients and 59 certificate recipient, according to a NTC release.

A total of 73 graduated with honors, and 10 graduated as members of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

Faith Hensrud, president of NTC and BSU, told the gathered graduates that they had made her, their instructors and their families proud.

“By completing your degrees, diplomas and certificates, you have demonstrated your understanding of the value of higher education,” she said. “You will find that if you keep an open and curious mind, your education will never be finished. In fact, your future learning will only be accelerated by all you have accomplished at Northwest Technical College.”

Mary Miller, executive director of clinic operations for Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota, delivered NTC’s commencement address.

Miller graduated from NTC in 1979 as a licensed practical nurse, and she later received her associate of arts degree in liberal arts from BSU.

“This school is very important to Sanford Health, as an employer, and community member,” she said. “When you look at the growing campus of Sanford Health, know that we see Northwest Technical College as an integral part of our success and future growth. We would not have been able to construct the buildings, or care for the patients or bill for our services to the level we are able without this marvelous Bemidji educational institution that I call ‘my school.'”

She encouraged NTC graduates to be the kind of person who goes the extra mile — to be the employee who helps a parent with a grumpy toddler, who comforts patients who are in pain, who lends a voluntary hand to unload a truck, according to the release.

“These folks are leaders — the most important kind, as they can raise the level of a workforce just by doing what comes naturally,” she said. “Are you a leader? You can be. We all can be. It is the choice you make.”