MCC graduates choose success, not failure

BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer

EDISON — Jeffrey P. Muirhead was one of many happy Middlesex County College graduates who attended the commencement ceremonies recently.

But unlike many of his fellow students, the road to a diploma didn’t come easy.

Muirhead, an honors graduate in business, computer science and engineering technologies, delivered the commencement address.

“The first year I took 18 credits while working a full-time job,” he said. “I woke up most days at 4:00 a.m. to study and I studied 16 to 20 hours every weekend. It was like having another full-time job.”

During his seven years as a part-time student, Muirhead’s company downsized. Both his parents passed away, and he suffered a massive pulmonary embolism that nearly killed him.

“I wish those doctors could see me now,” he said.

Muirhead represented the largest class in the college’s history, with 1,051 graduates. Almost half that number attended the college’s 38th annual graduation exercises.

College President Dr. Joann LaPerla-Morales gave out degrees and certificates of achievement to the new graduates.

“You could have chosen failure but you have chosen success,” Perla said. “For some there are stories of sacrifice, and for others there are stories of hard work overcoming challenges.”

Melissa Melendez and Milalie Francisco are two more success stories.

“I am the first from my immediate family to graduate from college,” said Melendez, who is president of the campus chemistry club, an organization which was established largely through her own efforts.

She is graduating with an associate’s degree in chemistry and hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon in sports medicine.

“I once had unsuccessful ankle surgery,” she said. “Through that struggle, as I was trying to keep my spirits up, that’s when I knew this is the way I wanted to help people.”

Francisco, president of the honor society Phi Theta Kappa, is graduating with an associate’s degree in business administration and has entrepreneurial ambitions in the music industry.

“My goal is to become CEO of my own record label one day,” she said. “In my spare time, I am a singer, actor and dancer. My father sings opera and my mother is a dancer, and so growing up my household was always filled with music.”

Her most memorable experiences at MCC were with Phi Theta Kappa.

“Through the organization, we oversaw community service programs such as Elijah’s Promise in New Brunswick and raised thousands of dollars for organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association,” she said.

Francisco will attend Rider University on an $8,000 scholarship in the fall, where she will major in economics and French.

“I visited Rider a year ago, and I liked that it was a small community,” she said. “I don’t like schools that are too big with multiple campuses.”

Melendez has also been accepted at Rider University and is awaiting a decision letter from Columbia University. Her experience at Middlesex was a memorable one also.

“I love Middlesex County College, and I have done so much here,” she said. “I think the faculty is brilliant. I don’t even know where to begin with the things the faculty has done for the students. I loved my experience.”