WCU-LA BSN Pinning Ceremony Draws Laughs and Tears

Pinning ceremonies are often filled with laughs and tears. And thanks to the cohort speakers at the West Coast University-Los Angeles pinning in June, there was no lack of either.

Cohort speaker Kristina Crisostomo began by thanking the friends and families of the 100-plus WCU-Los Angeles graduates gathered at the Sportsman Lodge for being there to witness this milestone in their lives.

“Not only are we celebrating the completion of this bachelor of science in nursing program, but we are celebrating each and every one of you and your role in getting us here today. We are thrilled you are here and eternally grateful,” she said.

“Each and every one of us has had our limits tested, our resilience discovered and have come to the realization that we were not on this journey alone,” Crisostomo said, acknowledging the contributions of “family, friends and fur babies.”

“One way or another, we coped, we persevered and here we are today. My wish of all of you as you enter your respective careers is to keep your mind open, welcome what others ahead of you have to offer and continue to learn. Your potential for greatness is vast,” she said tearfully. “Today you’re better than your yesterday. Tomorrow, you’ll be better than your today.”

The second speaker for the WCU-LA cohort, Dominic Deogracias, lightened the mood by pretending to medically assess the crowd — even providing his own hand sanitizer — and drawing some laughs.

While Deogracias started his speech by comparing going to nursing school to competing on “Fear Factor” and quoting the movie “Patch Adams,” he ended it with a heartfelt message to his fellow BSN graduates.

“Don’t lose your compassionate care, you belong to a cohort that stands for these values,” he said. “Be a person of character, morals and values and, most importantly, be nice to each other and change the atmosphere of competitive nursing into collaborative nursing.”

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