Four students from the Broadcasting – Radio, Television and Film graduating class not only attended the ceremony as graduates, but also worked tirelessly behind the scenes as members of the crew that broadcast the ceremonies worldwide via livestream.

Sarah Cedeno Almengor, Nick Hatlevik, Aaron Taylor-Head, and James Wilson have been able to put the skills they learned in the (virtual) classroom into practice during Niagara College’s convocation week ceremonies. The new graduates have taken on the roles of director, graphics, audio mixers, editors, teleprompter operators, camera and floor managers, and more this past week to transform the traditional Niagara College convocation ceremonies into a highly interactive virtual experience, and bring the ceremonies – which are broadcast live from the Welland Campus – into the homes of graduates and viewers around the world.

“One of the qualities I can’t teach is the desire to want to contribute to others. These four students model the selfless attitude that it takes to want to work on a production and proudly make a difference for the other almost 4,000 graduates,” said Peter VandenBerg, Broadcasting professor. “As much as these four are also graduating Wednesday afternoon, they are focused on making this a special week for all their fellow 2021 grads across the College. They would all rather be in the studio working than watching.”

As he addressed the graduates, president Sean Kennedy acknowledged the outstanding contributions of the BRTF grads.

“This is a proud day for us at Niagara College as we celebrate our school of Media, Trades and Technology which has had much success over the past academic year, including our broadcasting students who continued to put their skills to work at our college and in the community as restrictions on in-person gatherings heightened the demand for virtual storytelling,” he said. In fact, a team of students, including some of todays broadcasting graduates are here with us right now working behind the scenes to bring this amazing live ceremony broadcast into your homes, wherever you may be across the globe.”

Student success in the spotlight

Three outstanding Niagara College students were announced as the recipients of the Dean’s academic awards during Wednesday’s ceremonies for achieving outstanding academic achievement, earning the highest GPA in their academic school.

Taylor Wakulich from St. Catharines, who graduated from the Carpentry and Renovation Technician program, received the Dean’s Award from the School of Trades.

When asked about receiving the Dean’s Award, Wakulich shared, “I hadn’t even considered myself in the running for it and it feels good to see all the hard work put in over the past two years pay off.”

“While in school, I found a real love of furniture-making and cabinetry. I enjoyed how precise and accurate you have to be when creating and assembling these works,” continued Wakulich. “I really enjoy learning and absorbing knowledge whenever I can, so when I finally found something I was passionate about, it really just took off in terms of wanting to learn and succeed.”

School of Media Dean’s Award winner and International student in Computer Programming, Danylo Kukanov, who is originally from Kremenchuk, Ukraine credits his professors in part for his success at Niagara College.

“I feel grateful for the professors who taught me,” said Kukanov. “They noted my skills and helped me in my future career and I want to share my experience with others. In the near future, I plan to start contributing code to open-source projects o GitHub and GitLab, populating the ideas of free software.”

Joshua Durling, Electrical Engineering Technology graduate from the School of Technology was also announced as a Dean’s Award winner.

Niagara College’s June Virtual Convocation ceremonies, which kicked off on June 21, will continue twice a day – at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. – up to and including June 25. The ceremonies include an address and performance by guest speaker Sarah Blackwood, the Canadian singer, songwriter and musician from the Juno-award-winning band, Walk Off the Earth, who also received an honorary diploma in Media Studies.

Visit the College’s Virtual Convocation site to view the schedule or to access the livestream ceremonies niagaracollege.ca/virtualconvocation/.

Niagara College offers more than 130 diploma, bachelor degree and advanced level programs; as well as more than 600 credit, vocational and general interest Part-Time Studies courses. Areas of specialization include food and wine science, advanced technology, media, applied health and community safety, supported by unique learning enterprises in food, wine, beer, distilling, horticulture and esthetics. Visit niagaracollege.ca

Convocation 2021 media releases:

June 14: Walk Off the Earth’s Sarah Blackwood to address Niagara College’s Class of 2021

June 18: Success a team effort for NC’s top grad
June 21: ‘Welcome to the rest of life’ Musician Sarah Blackwood offers inspiring wake-up call to Class of 2021
June 22: Niagara College reached 100,000 graduate milestone during convocation ceremony

Photos:

BFRT Grads Nick, Aaron, James, Sarah: Graduates Sarah Cedeno Almengor, Nick Hatlevik, Aaron Taylor-Head, and James Wilson pulled double-duty at Niagara College’s convocation ceremony on Wednesday when they attended as graduates and the crew working on the livestream.

Hairstyling: A group of Hairstyling graduates appear on the morning ceremony livestream cheering and waving from their Zoom program party.