This year’s graduating class, the college’s 57th, contained 239 students. Some of the class graduated in December and walked then, instead of on Saturday.

Student Government Association President Shia Bright reflected on the memories of hard work, good friends and mentorship: how they had to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic and quoted Winston Churchill.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,” she said.

Chelsea Helms, a Class of 2012 NCCC alumni, returned to her alma mater to speak to the class of 2025.

North Country Community College graduate Christine Parisian shows a heart to her friends and family at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“I’m so happy to be back home,” she said.

Helms grew up in Malone and is now an award-winning journalist for CBS4 Indianapolis, where she reaches thousands and thousands of viewers with stories and news every day.

Helms never walked the stage at NCCC. She was in a rush to “make it.” But she told the graduates to slow down and appreciate the meaning of the moment.

Life is never a straight line, she said.

Helms’ father died suddenly and unexpectedly when she was 22.

North Country Community College Shia Bright, who was the student speaker at Saturday’s commencement, smiles as she prepares to receive her diploma. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“There were days when I was reporting on tragedies while carrying my own,” she said, adding this is a grief all of the graduates before her will experience at some time or another.

She told them to keep moving, not in spite of their grief, but with it.

Helms said life requires being willing to adapt.

She gave an analogy about a man seeing elephants tethered together with a single rope on their leg. He asks why they don’t break free, since they could easily snap the rope. The elephant-keeper tells him they’ve been tied by the same rope since they were young, back when they were too small to break it. Even when they got older and stronger, they were conditioned to believe they couldn’t, so they don’t even try.

Helms told students to break their conditioning and break the old “ropes” they’ve outgrown.

North Country Community College graduate Bradley Waite approaches the stage at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“Ignorance isn’t bliss. It is dangerous,” Helms said.

She recalled seeing an old vaudeville clip in a class at NCCC that featured actors in blackface. She had not been taught about this part of American history before and was shocked by its cruelty.

Ignorance is a barrier, she said, and one she told everyone to overcome.

“Storytelling is powerful,” she said. “Journalism isn’t just about sharing information. It’s about making an impact.”

At a television station in Arkansas, she held a “Find a Family” segment where she helped kids get adopted through telling their stories.

Luka VanGuilder, 4, shows off “Bernie,” North Country Community College’s mascot, to NCCC graduate Giniqua Crawford after commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Humanities Department Chair and commencement Grand Marshal Shir Filler encouraged the students to pursue a “happy, healthy, human life” by reducing their reliance on modern technology and focus on making friends in person.

Technology that was designed to connect people has had the opposite affect, she said, referencing the mental health crisis and the loneliness epidemic. She told graduates to make and spend time with real friends.

See more photos here.

North Country Community College graduate Grace Matiru grins as she approaches the stage at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

North Country Community College graduate Kayla Kempf grins as she approaches the stage at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

North Country Community College graduate Jamie Jessie approaches the stage at Saturday’s commencement. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

North Country Community College graduate Jessica Cook, right, grins with her diploma at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

North Country Community College graduate Jodie Thompson approaches the stage at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

North Country Community College graduate Caryn Perretta grins with her diploma at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

A North Country Community College graduate sports a Spongebob Squarepants-themed graduation cap at commencement on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)