About 450 of Ivy Tech Community College’s nearly 1,700 graduates from the Valparaiso, Michigan City and LaPorte sites participated in Thursday night’s commencement ceremony at Valparaiso University’s Athletics-Recreation Center.
That’s a record number of graduates, Director of Marketing and Communications Erika Mihalek said.
“You are vigilant and resilient as you strive to achieve your goals, and you did it,” Chancellor Aco Sikoski told the graduates.
Commencement speaker Dean Mazzoni, CEO of Franciscan Health Michigan City, said when the hospital opened in 1904. The first patient, from South Bend, paid for his care with a chicken and potatoes. “A lot has changed since 1904,” he said.
The hospital hires “skilled, well-trained” Ivy Tech grads not just for nursing and other healthcare careers but also fields like accounting, HVAC, computer science and supply chain management.
Mazzoni offered three bits of advice for the graduates.
“Don’t stop learning. You’re never too old to learn,” he said. “The truth is, at my age, I’m still learning. I learn something new every day,” Mazzoni, 56, said.
Mazzoni, like others, learns from his mistakes, a process his father referred to as the school of hard knocks. “Scholars call this experiential learning, learning outside the classroom,” he said.
Take a break to celebrate your accomplishment, he urged the graduates, but don’t stop learning.
Mazzoni also urged the graduates to limit distractions. “Put down your mobile phones. Live your life instead of watching someone else live theirs,” he said.
His kids watched videos of people playing video games. “It absolutely made no sense to me,” Mazzoni said. He cited studies that show a correlation between social media use and ill effects on people.
He also urged the graduates to take better care of themselves to live longer, healthier, happier lives. “Eat healthy, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep,” he said.
Many of the issues healthcare professionals treat are exacerbated by patients not following that advice earlier in their lives, he said.
Aaron O’Reilly, owner and operator of Fiddlehead Restaurant in Michigan City and president of Ivy Tech Valparaiso’s student nursing organization, was honored as this year’s distinguished graduate. He spoke of his experience at Ivy Tech.
“Little did I know that this journey would not only shape my professional aspirations but also reshape me to my very core,” he said. “Life is a tapestry of chapters, each with its own lessons and opportunities.”
“I saw that I was becoming a kinder and more patient and more compassionate person,” O’Reilly said. “I was learning not only about nursing but about life itself.”
O’Reilly hopes to become a nursing professor at Ivy Tech in the future.
“May we all step boldly into the future that we are destined to create,” he said.
Ivy Tech trustee Rob Thorgren, president of Thorgren Tool & Molding, received an honorary degree. Thorgren was instrumental in Ivy Tech selling a portion of its land in Michigan City to HealthLinc, Sikoski said. Ivy Tech plans to use the third floor of HealthLinc’s facility there for its health care programs.
Theresa Hallmen Crowley was honored as distinguished alumna. In 2021, she received the President’s Award for Excellence for her work with the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at the Lake County campus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
