MiraCosta College will be holding its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 24, 2024 with more than 1,600 graduates earning degrees and certificates that cap their educational journey.

The 2024 Commencement will be held at 5 p.m. at the Track & Field on the Oceanside Campus at 1 Barnard Drive. The college will be honoring 1,685 graduates who are receiving 3,476 degrees and certificates, with many students earning multiple awards.

Twenty percent of the graduates are affiliated with the military, and 30% are the first in their family to earn a college degree.

“Our students have worked hard, and many of them have overcome tremendous obstacles, to earn their degrees and certificates,” said Sunita V. Cooke, superintendent/president of MiraCosta College. “We’re confident that our graduates will use their education to become vital members of the community here in North County and beyond.” The graduates will hear from student speaker Antoinette Albert, who was placed in foster care as a toddler because her mother suffered from a mental illness. Albert had to find a job to support herself when she aged out of foster care at 18.

She has maintained a 4.0 grade point average at MiraCosta College and will be earning an associate degree in behavioral science. She will be attending Loma Linda University to earn a bachelor’s degree in medical radiography, and plans to work as an MRI technologist.

The graduates will also hear a poem written by Daniela Mendoza Villa, who said she wrote it to express her feelings about the challenges that first-generation college students face with their families.

Mendoza Villa said the poem, “Mija, puedes traducer esto por mi?” which means in English “Mija, can you translate this for me?” expresses a phrase she and other first-generation students often hear.

“A repeated line in the poem is ‘Your parents didn’t cross the border so you can cross the stage” at commencement,” Mendoza Villa said. “They had and continue to have dreams of their own.”

Mendoza Villa said she is planning to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz and hopes to teach English in high school and later at a community college.

MiraCosta College looks forward to celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2024. For more information about the commencement ceremony, please visit miracosta.edu/commencement. To view photos from all 2024 Commencement-related celebrations, visit miracostacollege.smugmug.com.