By Gavin Patton
Good evening graduates, families, faculty members and honored guests to Kellogg Community College’s Spring 2026 Commencement Ceremony. My name is Gavin Patton and if you don’t know me, that’s okay. I was one of those nerds building sculptures out of canned food by the Student Center. Pretty cool, am I right?
Now that you obviously remember who I am, it is without a doubt an honor to be speaking with and celebrating with you here today. I grappled with what I wanted to say for a while in striving for it to be perfect in every word and every idea. What I came to realize is that perfection did not matter. The only thing that mattered was celebrating you and your wins and giving you the send off you deserve as your accomplishments have borne fruit. It’s why you and I are here.
If you asked me all those years ago where I thought I would be in 2026, I would have told you something along the lines of, “I would have a bachelor’s in computer science from a big university and hopefully be at a large tech firm working on next-generation computer hardware.” As you can see, that did not happen, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am the president of the Tech Club, I found my passion in CAD and, most importantly, I found me. But it was not easy.
To my fellow graduates, today not only marks you graduating college, but signifies other changes and accomplishments in each of our personal lives. From first-generation college students to lifelong learners always seeking knowledge no matter how many gray hairs fill their heads, to people like me who have stumbled, fallen and felt lost just to get back up and try again to prove to yourself that you can. We all have wandered different winding paths that to some seemed as if they had no end. But through all the change and all of the fight that life has put up, we did not stop. My own journey has taught me you can’t do it alone and as stubborn as I am I sure have tried. But when the bell rings and I’m left down on my knees, the support of my family has always given me the strength to try again.
I want to take this time to thank my parents, who kept pushing me to not stop and to get back up. To my beautiful mother, I love you; you’re the strongest person I know and I would not be half the man I am without your gentle hands every step of the way. To my father, thank you for instilling in me a sense of pride in who I am and confidence in my own abilities. I believe I am now what you would call a “learned fella” by your standards.
And it’s not just them. From the wonderful professors who sowed passion into the subjects they teach, to my incredible friends who brought stability to an area of my life where I felt I had none: You all have given me strength in ways you do not know. I hope you all have found support on your own journeys, and if you haven’t, find the arms that will always be outstretched for you in times of success and times of failure. Life is too elegant and too short to not share every bit of yourself with the people you love. For with the strength of them, no challenge will ever be too big, and life can throw whatever it wants at you, and you will be able to walk through it all and say, “Is that it?”
While I don’t know everyone here, what I can say for certain is, we are strong, we are determined. From single parents, to those of us who juggle job after job on top of school. To those trying to better themselves in their professions, to those just trying to support their families and those who were told their lives would not amount to anything. I see you. We see you. You did it and it’s time to celebrate. And while most of our paths will split and spread towards our own individual goals and dreams, never forget this moment. Never forget how you got there and most importantly never forget how strong YOU are, how fearless YOU are, how resilient YOU are.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity. Before I go I want to leave you with this quote from the author of “The Miracle of Mind Power,” Dan Custer:
“Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment — this day — is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day — each moment of this day — a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity.”
Thank you.
KCC’s 2026 Commencement ceremony was held May 14 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, celebrating the accomplishments of 1,236 graduation candidates from four semesters at KCC, including Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026 and Summer 2026. The Class of 2026 is the 68th graduating class at KCC, which was founded in 1956.
