LAS VEGAS (KLAS)— Nevada State College is celebrating its largest graduating class. The institution is seeing more graduates and enrollments this year.
Tania Davis is one of those students.
As one of the first undergraduate students to graduate from NSC, she now has a master’s degree in speech pathology.
She is also graduating alongside her daughter, Makenna Davis. Makenna is graduating with a nursing degree.
Tania said it’s never too late to go back to school.
“To think about grad school and I’m in my late 40’s like there’s no way I can do this because you know it’s rigorous, “said Davis. I just held on to my faith to know that I could do it.”
Professors like Dr. David Kelsey, Ed.D, a founding member of the college’s deaf studies program, says it’s rewarding to see his students on their big day.
“I am really proud of them. They have learned my language and my culture. They have immersed themselves in this. Now they’re going to graduate and go out into the world, have a new journey with new experiences and I look back and reflect now and I am so incredibly proud of them.”
Lori Navarrete, PhD. is a professor specializing in special education. She said these past two years have been like no other.
“We have a highly diverse student population, highly first-gen,” said Naverrete. “Many of them are supporting themselves and their families and now we’re in this economy. I see them when they come to class and they’re in school student teaching and they’re graduating today. They have been so resilient.”
Graduating students said they are ready to take on the workforce, including nursing graduates Beatrice Nortey and Jessica Guzman.
“I feel like with nursing, there are lots of opportunities,” said Guzman. “There’s a lot of different areas you can go into.'”
Both are excited to start their careers at Sunrise hospital.
“I was born with sickle cell, which is a blood disease, so I’ve been around nurses my whole life, so I know what it’s like to be on that patient side so being a nurse and helping out kids with my disease is my goal in life,” added Nortey.
Nevada State College is anticipating around 920 graduates this year, that’s a 100 increase of additional graduates compared to 2021.
