By Dessalines Ferdinand
On Saturday, July 30, a respected Broward nursing school celebrated its summer graduation at Lauderhill Performing Arts Center. Adding to the excitement, the event featured an unprecedented surprise that elated the 173 newly minted nurses of Azure College School of Nursing.
Those new healthcare professionals, dressed in their blue robes, received their Associate of Science Degre in Nursing (ASN) and Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (RN to BSN) from the hands of the president of the school, Mr. Johnson Napoléon.
Azure stands tall among other Florida nursing colleges and is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education. Because of this, the students who graduate from there won’t face the same problems finding decent employment, as can be the case in other industries.
The school administration ensured that nothing important was left behind at this important venue for the recipients. The audience made up mainly of family members of these new graduates and their friends were visibly happy to see them complete their studies.
The ceremony began shortly after 10am with words of welcome from faculty staff Nicole Scott, who then led the recitation of, “The Star Spangled Banner” and the Pledge of Allegiance. She was followed by college administrator Jose Napoleon, who emceed the event with great flair and a wonderful sense of humor.
Addressing the new graduates, Mr. Jose Napoleon said, “You are seated here today, no one gave it to you. You did it, you took charge. If you have completed what you have completed, given the circumstances, it only gets easier from here. Your Bachelor degree, your Master’s degree will be easier. If you have gone through what you have gone through and gotten this far, the rest should be easier. Your sacrifices have paid off. Congratulations to you, Class 2022!!”
Following the administrator’s address was the presentation of a special video with pictures of faculty staff and students at Azure College sharing some good times together as a family. Claude Louis, one of the honor students who graduated with high GPA score, who acted as spokesperson for the recipients, was then called to the podium for some words of wisdom.
On behalf of his fellow graduates, Louis showed gratitude, particularly to Almighty God, who creates everything and allows them to accomplish their magnificent dreams. He also sent a shootout to the administration staff of the college who stood with them during this exceptional time of life with the COVID-19 pandemic to help them achieve their dream.
“It’s a great honor and privilege for me to be selected among the greatest students to address this wonderful audience filled with family members, friends and distinguished guess,” Louis said. “This event is the perfect time to tell ourselves that we are not diagnosed with failure, but we are definitely winners. Fellow graduates, this is a major step in the journey of our lives. Thank you for encouraging each other! Thank you for supporting each other! We made it!”
He later added, “I hope all of us here today can take this personal accomplishment as an example of how anything is possible when you put your mind to it. Remember, the sky is the limit. Let’s keep our focus, let’s pass the NCLEX exam in our first attempt. Let’s be among the greatest in the nursing field. Congratulations to all of you fellow graduates!”
Maxwell B. Chambers, the City of Miramar Commissioner, was the keynote speaker and said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to speak today to the Class of 2022 graduates of Azure College. Congratulations! Graduation is a great milestone. It is a celebration of all your hard work and effort. This is the end of a well-earned accomplishment; the beginning of pursuing your dreams.”
Mr. Chambers told the large audience at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center two stories to highlight how motivation and hard work absolutely pay off in the end; one about him and one about a woman named Mava from a very poor family who grew up farming in Jamaica but who dreamed of becoming a nurse. Even though her parents could not afford to send her to school, she managed to get her high school diploma by teaching herself how to pass the exams and then attended a nursing school. Her dream took her to the United States to pursue her career. Not only did she become a nurse, an achiever, she is now the owner of a nursing school in Miramar, and she’s been doing that for the past nine years. She didn’t have money starting out; she was determined to lift herself up.
The keynote speaker said that Mava’s story is similar to his, since he, too, was born on the island of Jamaica to a single mother. Like Mava, his family lived deep in the country with no running water and no electricity, either. Growing up in Jamaica, he never imagined he would migrate to the United States and work as a cabinet maker for years before later becoming Commissioner of the city of Miramar.
He explained how he got involved in local politics to become Commissioner while he was part of the campaign trail for a female friend he helped encourage to run for office – so she could make a difference – after hearing her complain about how poorly the City of Miramar was governed. His friend failed twice before finally getting elected to office. His enormous contributions to her political journey later convinced him that he, too, could make a difference. While many family members and friends thought that he was not ready, Chambers ran successfully in his first attempt in 2015 during a special election. He won by 380 votes and beat five opponents. He was successfully reelected for four years in 2017 and again in 2021.
However, as he became more confident year after year, he noted that the 2021 election was the hardest one of his political career. Not only did he face two very strong opponents, the hardest part was when, six days before Election Day, he was devastated by the news that his oldest child, his son Maxwell Jr., had passed away due to a massive hard attack. He said God was on his side and he won the election despite all those adversities. He said his story also shows that hard work and perseverance do pay off.
“A winner never quits on himself, never abandons his dreams,” Commissioner Chambers told the new graduates. “Your future depends on you. Do the right thing and follow your passion. Don’t give up on your dreams. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what your circumstances may be today. It only matters where you are going. We hope with faith and perseverance you can lift yourself up. Congratulations.”
According to the commissioner, the members of this promotion of graduates are now equipped, thus having all the instruments to access the labor market in the field of health.
Among other speakers were Dr. Shirley Sims-Gibbs (College Administrator), Dr. Arlene Grant, Dean of Nursing, and Dale Holness, a former mayor of Broward County, Florida. Dr. Grant addressed the new graduates to underline the value of the diploma they had earned and the professional openness that results from it, while expressing her wish to see them return to share with the next wave of students their academic experience with this institution.
Dr. Alex Forges (faculty) and Ms. Rnette Gabriele (faculty) took turns calling the recipients forward for the awarding of diplomas ceremony.
Each graduate proudly strode up to the stage to collect their diploma. The applause rang out and the flashes of the professional photographer Garry Bourdeau (hired for the occasion) popped for each one, providing them a souvenir photo with the president of the institution, Johnson Napoléon. It was a great way to immortalize this moment of life for those individuals with a diploma in hand and a big smile on their face.
In closing, Johnson Napoleon delivered an emotional remark. He explained how he recently faced a frightening moment in his life. On the morning of March 9, 2022 a CAT scan was performed on him. While seated comfortably in his first class seat to go to Dallas to be part of a convention on nursing education, he received a call from the hospital. He ignored the call at first and then decided to pick up to learn the bad news. He had to get off the airplane; he couldn’t travel because he just had a stroke.
He said that his paternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, his father, and his uncle all died of a stroke. As he is the oldest in his family, he had dealt with his uncle’s and father’s health situations where they spent many years not being able to walk and barely talk. He said he stepped off the plane and headed to the Cleveland clinic where, by the time he got there, a physician team was waiting. At this point, as any human being would, he imagined all worst-case scenarios, including that he would not be able to see his sons graduate or get married, or even witness this beautiful Saturday event to see those Azure College students graduate. The doctors checked him and could not find anything wrong. Until today, his doctors could not find out why he had a stroke. A few weeks ago they took him to the hospital and they put a heart monitor in his body.
“If you need one more reason besides me telling you, you need to pass your NKLEX exam. It is true that doctors could not find what was wrong with me, but I knew exactly what was wrong: the stress of running Azure College. The stress of collecting money from you, but the government is doing all they can for you not to finish. The stress of knowing that you were travelling from everywhere to come to school and I have to keep my word to you. That’s what gave me a stroke,” the president told the new graduates.
“All I am asking you is to go home, study, take your NKLEX and pass. A diploma is a piece of paper. It is worthless if you cannot covert the education you learned into money to take care of your family, yourself, and change the society. I want you to go home and close yourself down. Delete TikTok, Facebook, Instagram for two or three months, sit down and study. Don’t worry, you might lose some friends, but you will gain some great doctor friends. Do it for you, for Azure College, your society! I am proud to be the President of Azure College, to be a black man, a Haitian man, an immigrant in this country. I am proud of you. Thank you!”
When Le Floridien asked Mr. Napoleon what Saturday’s ceremony meant from an entrepreneurial spirit, he said, “The time has now come for Haitians in South Florida to no longer be considered as a community of “boat people.” This beautiful graduation ceremony is another opportunity for us to send a strong signal, a clear signal, to say that we (Haitians) are as capable of achieving beautiful things as other ethnic groups in the United States.”
Mr. Napoleon received the key to the city of Miramar from Commissioner Maxwell Chambers during the graduation ceremony and he was then joined on stage by his three sons.
Azure College was established and is owned by a Haitian immigrant, showcasing what’s truly possible when one person, even an immigrant who begins with little more than clothing on his or her back, can accomplish. To have gone through the pandemic challenges, shutdowns, and lockdowns as these graduates did, there is truly nothing they can’t accomplish. What’s more, to build the foundation of their future in a place built by a dreamer should inspire them that they, too, can achieve whatever they set their minds to.
Hard work, dedication, and perseverance are truly the keys to success and it doesn’t matter where you come from or how much money you have or what society does to you that determines your ultimate destination; it’s entirely up to you. Congratulations Graduates. You deserve every ounce of praise.
Dessalines Ferdinand
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