San Joaquin Delta College will celebrate its 90th annual Commencement ceremony this Thursday, May 15, with more than 1,000 students expected to attend and be celebrated for their hard work and perseverance.
A total of 2,773 Delta College students have applied for graduation in 2024-25, seeking a total of 3,881 degrees and 762 certificates.
“Our graduates have encountered many challenges during their academic journey, but they stayed the course,” said Delta College Superintendent/President Dr. Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson. “They may have been the caregiver for children or family members, or worked several jobs. They may have experienced challenges putting food on the table or finding secure housing. They may have faced health problems.
“Even with these responsibilities and challenges, our graduates pressed on and their achievement at this milestone 90th Commencement ceremony shows tremendous resilience, commitment, focus, and courage.”
Thursday’s ceremony begins at 6 p.m. at the Adventist Health Arena. For more details, visit deltacollege.edu/commencement.
Read on for the story of a student speaker who will be featured during this year’s Commencement.
Student Speaker Aminah Flowerdew
Student Speaker Aminah Flowerdew
When she started chemotherapy treatments three years ago, Aminah Flowerdew made a promise to herself:
“To find my purpose in this world before I leave this world.”
And so, even while grappling with an illness from which she wasn’t sure she would recover, Aminah went back to school.
Three years after that brave decision she finds herself a member of Delta College’s 2025 graduating class. Chemo treatments ended three months ago, Aminah feels better than she has in years, and at Delta she indeed found her life’s purpose: a desire to perform humanitarian work in underprivileged communities around the world.
Perhaps the best part is that she’s not alone on this Commencement day. Aminah’s daughter, Teayana Subia, is graduating from Delta’s nursing program and will walk the same stage, having helped her mom through some of her most difficult moments along the way.
“Graduating here with my daughter is such an amazing accomplishment, I can’t even describe it in words,” Aminah says. “I’m so proud of her and I’m so humbled to be part of her experience as well as have her join in my experience.”
There were hard days when Aminah struggled in class, when she felt unwell and had to stop what she was doing to take medication. And it was on those days when Delta College faculty and staff stepped up, reassuring Aminah that she was doing the right thing.
Now, buoyed by a desire through her Muslim faith to do good deeds for others, she wants to use her education in humanities and culinary arts to serve people around the world who are starving and otherwise struggling.
She knows her story of perseverance resonates with other graduates who have overcome their own obstacles to arrive at this place.
“Whether it’s single parenting, homelessness, I’ve met so many people here that have their own situation, and each person has preserved,” Aminah says. “Each person is worthy of this accomplishment.”