The Patriot Ledger // Published May 21, 2022 // By Fred Hanson

QUINCY – If Gov. Charlie Baker didn’t know he had a tough act to follow as Quincy College’s commencement speaker, he got a reminder shortly into his speech at Friday’s ceremony.

Last year, when Granite Telecommunications President Rob Hale had the honor, he gave each graduate $1,000 – $500 to keep and $500  for a person or organization who needed it more.

Baker had said he didn’t remember a single word said at his high school, college or graduate school graduation.  A member of the graduating class suggested off-mike that  following Hale’s lead would help them remember his words. The governor begged off, saying he was a humble public servant.

But he did have some words of advice for the 460 graduates who would receive associate degrees and certificates at the college’s 64th annual commencement at  Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“Nobody handed this to you,” Baker said. “You earned it.”

He encouraged them to team up with people who bring out their best, and not to be afraid to fail, citing his unsuccessful first campaign for governor in 2010.

“The path in life is rarely a straight line,” he said.

Baker also cited the importance of debate and discussion in a democratic society.

“These days, I wonder if we’ve forgotten that,” said Baker, who will leave office in January.

The governor said his Republican father and his Democrat mother didn’t agree on everything, and they had sharp differences when it came to politics. But they respected those differences.

“You don’t have to agree. But if you listen, you might be surprised by what you learn,” Baker said.

He concluded by saying, “I know it’s not $1,000, but I hope you take something out of that that’s worth a few bucks.”

Student speaker Sarah Nisbet, of Scituate, recounted her personal journey during her years at the college, from shy newcomer to a student leader. Graduating with an associate degree in accounting, she said her education is the best investment she has made.

“You don’t have to graduate from a fancy college to have a successful career,” said Nisbet, who works for Fidelity Investments. “Just a willingness to work hard.”

College President Richard DeCristofaro said the graduates should be proud of their efforts and success.

“We are proud of you,” DeCristofaro said. “You have built a foundation as solid as Quincy granite.”

Mayor Thomas Koch expressed his personal and the city’s congratulations to the graduates.

The Class of 2022

Abington – Samiha Elrharib, Meghan Kelly, Christine McKenzie, Brooke Picariello, Mireline Thermidor, Jude Viaud

Attleboro – Joshua Markievitz, Patrick Pickering

Auburndale – Marie Cassagnol

Barnstable – Martha Gruhn

Bedford – Jennifer Klein

Belmont – Ghufran Alzeyadi

Boston – Rameika Bertrand, Gebreyohannis Birketa, Cassey Bullard, Aleisha Conille, Bryant Daye, Wilson De Pina, Kattiana Denis, Ronda Desravines, Melissa Duhaney, Shannon Flaherty, Aisha Gibrine, Tyniese Holmes, Charkezia Hyatt, Caulene Gardner, Bryant James, Shonda Jordan, Aimad Kalda, Sarah Malone, Marikha Mehu, Catrina Murphy, Jacques Noel, Ricardo Petion, Royfael Ramnarain Jr., Lynn Rene, Monique Rodrigues, Tony Santos, Christopher Semedo, Khalid Sherrod, Jerome Stephens, Erica Teixeira, April Urban, Mariana Viruez, Emily Wilson, Michal Wojcik

Braintree – Mohannad Alhoty, Brianna Barbosa-Freire, Hannah Bernasconi, Sean Coose, Rebecca Correia, Gabriel Cubillas, Bret Giannetti, Symphony Hall, Kenny Joseph, Subeen Jung, Keti Patel, Tram Pham, Nicholas Zingaro

Bridgewater – Farrah Auguste, Jonathan Bell, Rita Maurin

Brighton – Jacklyn Chesny, Hanna Getu, Ratana Ros

Brockton – Ashley Alves, Saberna Cuevas, Christian Emile, Kevin Ferreira Cabral, Anne Fevrier, Ciara Gonzalez, Paul Hollis, Gyesla Jean, Erika Mathieu, Jungmin Nam, Misoo Nam, Doan Nguyen, Tarina Ornellas, Jeffrey Rene

Brookline – Yemisrach Yehuala

Cambridge – Jihan Layla, Aklilu Mamo, Jamila Parveen, Md Rahman, Nelofar Yesmin

Canton – Curtis Adams, David Shea, Daniel Sheil, Rebecca Stoffer

Carver – Brian Abatiello, Miranda Giorgio, Michela Giorgio, Michele Izzo, Andrew Roy, Mckayla Willett

Chatham – Abigail Lacock

Chelmsford – Pragya Malla Shrestha

Chelsea – Allison McGarity

Cohasset – Tracy Fondanova, Donlop Munnings

Dartmouth – Julius Jonassaint,

Dedham – Kathleen Foley, Yajaira Matus, Meaghan Michel, Benjamin Williams

Dighton – Nicole Baker

Dorchester – Lisa Andrade, Tori Bacote, Emale Barbosa, Nyeshia Beech, Makenzie Broderick, Sean Gilligan, Shalixa Johnson, Steven Kovaleski, Cheryl Lashley, Bryana Le, Amanda LeBlanc, Tamara Licorish, Keula Lopes, Jennifer McDonough, Leah Mills, Adeola Olatunji, Stephanie Rivera, Kayla Rochalski, Kaminie Singh, Idaleen Vargas, Petrina Walker, Brendan McCarthy

Duxbury – Eric DeFilippis, Brittney Flood, Cullen Petit DeMange

East Bridgewater – Danielle Nash

Easton – Jessica Cardenas, Kyle Johnson, Adelsa Dos Santos

Everett – Khasandra Gentle, Joliane Kibamba Yezoua, Marie Lubrun, Rajesh Maharjan, Sreejana Neupane Parajuli

Fairhaven – Amanda  Paulson

Fall River – Louis Alexander III

Falmouth – Conor O’Brien

Foxboro – Sadie Giers, Shawn Linton

Framingham – Kyle Abreu, Scott Griffin

Halifax – Taylor Gleason, Emily Ibbitson, Karen Keeler, Robert Mullen, Adam Salamone

Hanover – Joshua Cormier, Amanda Rattigan, Timothy Smith

Hanson – Jessica Blanchard, Asia Fernandez

Hingham – Heather McAuliffe, Brittany Morissette, Carrie Sullivan

Holbrook – Katerina Arocho, Serena Brown, Brittany Carter, Devin O’Garro, Jorge Ribeiro-Desouza

Hopedale – Kate Meomartino

Hopkinton – Thea Hird

Hull – Alanna Connors-Duffy

Hyannis – Tirsna Rai

Kingston – Jenna Bergeron, Andrew Burke, Valerie Caizzi, Nicole Huard, Kylie MacInnis, Dana O’Brien, Tia Williams

Leominster – Gaelle Aristil

Lynn – Shawn Garner, Zlatan Knezevic

Malden – Halima Et Taib, Kenny Florez Suarez

Mansfield – Damani Scott-Hankerson

Marion – Sarah Murdoch

Marlboro – Frandley Gabriel

Marshfield – Ashley Abdallah, Alexandra DoCanto, Amy Durkee, Rebecca Michalowski, Lucy Weinberg, John Yaeger

Mashpee – Elisa Pasquino

Mattapan – Lynda Alexis, Chidozie Brendan, Chinedum Brendan, Robenia Chambers, Barbara Jean-Baptiste, Louidor Michel, Jessica Rebecca, Jaimie Taylor-Brown

Maynard – Francesca Gray

Medfield – Jorge Aurichi

Medford – Gabriela Deoliveira-Gomes, Sheila Millien, Josema Pierre

Medway – Richard White

Middleboro – Nicole Blunt, Leah Kilrow, Susan Randall

Milton – Ethan Johnson, Brian Kennedy, David Llewellyn, Briannah Menelas

New Bedford – Onur Bicak, Lena Cote

Newton – Michelle Landers, Reimon Sato, Matthew Skinner

Norwell – Maxwell Abbate, Patrick Birmingham, Terrance Low

Norwood – Belinda Adjei, Giovannie Antenor, Kayla Augenstene, Kenneth Conley, Laprema Gilbert-Dunn, Eron Kennebrew, Gianna Moreira, Renee Plummer

Oxford – Bennesa Decambre-Hayden

Pembroke – Brandon Jackson, Cheyenne Luce, Silvia Stephan

Plainville – Stanislaus Miklaszewski

Plymouth – Alyssa Barker, Andrew Deane, Geena Downie, Kassidy Duncan, Thomas Faulkner, Andre Feliciano, Hannah Figlioli, Valerie Hackett, Nichole Henderson, Daniel Jenkins, Pamela Kane, Stefanie Loring, Christopher Mearls, Alexis Petersen, Leonardo Petri, Sandra Sheehan, Dylan Taggart, Nathan Val, Emma Whall, Marissa Wiley

Plympton – Craig Framer

Quincy – Dagm Assefa, Abderrahmene Belbachir, Lisa Belcher, John Benoit, Marie Catiana Bien-Aime, Kelly Bishop, Kelcie Bither, Bryanna Blackman, Ashkan Bradaranhagh, Tomorrow Briddell, Isabelle Buchanan, Jasmine Caple, Odili Cepeda Gutierrez, Mandy Chen, Jessica Chieng, Jacky Chong, Cassandra Davis, Colleen Davis, Griffan Dejesus, Louis DeVita, Gianpiero Di Rito, Kylie Donnelly, Huyen Duong, Kelly Eisenhauer, Kelsey Fair, Jennifer Farnsworth, Ermira Floqi, Edil Flores, Jessica Fonseca, Michael Golden, Christopher Golden, Lucas Gomes, Christopher Govoni, Antonella Gulla, Nhi Ha, Hanane Hammoussi, Brendan Hansbury, Yuhan He, Inna Holosinska, Sahaphab Hongsaluek, Steven Honrado-Foster, Leticia Ilo, Joshua Ingemi, Rojin Jahangirian, Martin Jimenez, Ethan Johns, Allison Karam, Courtney Kennedy, Steven La, Ryan Larsen, Thi Le, Xiaojing Li, Vivian Liang de Wu, Alison Littlefield, Jialu Liu, Heather Loomis, Desiree Lopes, Jenna Markow, Chantae Maynard, Bryan McGillicuddy, Theresa McNicol, Dara Moreira, Mariem Moufallah, Carolina Munoz, Hong Ni, Anne Normile, Kacey O’Malley, Kathleen O’Neil, Michael Oldham, Patrick Orr, Boutaina Ouariki, Riley Pascarelli, Kalgi Patel, Alyssa Picot, Jaclyn Pitts, Kevin Quinn, Alexander Reid, Antonio Reid, Erin Richardson, Tina Riley, Celma Rodrigues, Claudia Santos, Ryan Sempiana-McWade, Christine Suarez, Chelsey Sulham, Lauri Sullivan, Hua Sun, Leoneta Tashi, Kristen Topalli, Phuong Tran, Emily Van Tassell, Jasmine Vazquez Burgos, Yingcheng Zeng, Danni Zou

Randolph – Amabel Cadeau, Latoria Carswell, Christy Cesar, Triet Chau, Abel Exantus, Craig Grissett, Daija` Kirkland, Nikkira Nelson, Dieny Sainval, Linh Tang, Joanne Thoby, Amondee Weaver

Raynham – Francesca Belval

Revere – Tadele Debelie, Abdelmoula Douhi

Rockland – Olivia Ciampa

Sandwich – Stephanie Spicuzza

Scituate – Peter Kent, Sarah Nisbet, Courtney Smith

Somerville – Kabita Bhatta Karkheti

Southwick – Lindsey Terva

Stoughton – Paola Charles, Taylor Joe, Youdelene Joseph, Jennifer McCaffrey, Nneoma Osibe, Ashley Russo, Liana Tomak

Taunton – Charlene Rodrigues, Matthew Sheehan, Nancy Smith, Demetrios Vozella

Tyngsboro – Ana Paula Mota-Amaral

West Roxbury – Rose Caton, Joshua De La Rosa, James O’Brien, Ryan Wilson

Wareham – Cassandra Mulroy

Weymouth – Lindsay Amrock, Richard Anderson, Nicole Baldwin, Jessica Barbosa, Derek Brickey, Tamicka Brown, Emily Bruno, Kieanna Burton, Brian Butterworth, Julia Bykowski, Julia Campbell, Christine Champagne, Haley Clifford, Kristin Connelly, Danae Curry-Stubbs, Christopher Dindy, Catrina Dunbar, Nicole Feist, Brandi Freeman, Amanda Galvin, Cassandra Hemeon, Joshua Holbrook. Christian Ingargiola, Sherrill Keenan, Harikela Lako, George Martell, Matthew Martin, Courtney Mason, Cameron Mason, Shayla McCarthy, Kathleen McDonald, Paul Mullaney, Cam Nguyen, Jameal Okeowo, John Osterman, Jacob Petersen, Steven Philippe, Danielle Preston, James Pumphret, Jieling Ruan, Moutabir Slassi, Michele Tran, Timothy Ziniti.

Whitman – Jason Coronella, Wilkerson Guerrier, Juanita Santa Maria

Winthrop – Mohammed Naoumi, Aida Ouabdesselam

Woburn – Cori Howe, Jamie Welsh

Worcester – Darrin Buggs

Connecticut – Rodger Bergeron

New York – Artenisa Zeneli, David Darling

Rhode Island – Milka Kabeya, Bryan Ostergren

Tennessee – Nikhil Patel

Texas – Jaclyn Merchant

Virginia – Mercedes Edwards