Dedicate a Song to Help Our Grads Reach for the Stars

NOVA honors our amazing 2020 and 2021 Nighthawk graduates this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I hope you will join in the virtual ceremonies each evening at 6 p.m., and I thank those of you who sent in your video congratulations.

While getting to graduation has never been easy for our students, the past two years have taken the challenges that life has thrown their way to a whole new level. They are so deserving of our recognition for pushing through day after day, putting one foot in front of the other in a journey that will take them across the virtual stage this week and into futures filled with hope and possibility.

In a typical year, we would have cheered and applauded our graduates: they would have felt the pride, the joy, the love that we have for them. But, this is not a typical year.

I spend most Saturday mornings running errands, and because I’m a president of a certain age, my car radio is often tuned to “70s on 7”—which on Saturdays, replays the old American Top 40 with Casey Kasem. If you remember these countdowns, you’ll also remember that they featured “Long-Distance Dedications”: listeners would write letters (yes—actual, mailed letters) to Kasem, asking him to play songs dedicated to loved ones far away.

You probably guessed where this is going: since we cannot be with our students in person, I invite you to send in your long-distance dedication to our graduating NOVA Nighthawks.

What song would you play for our students to celebrate all they’ve achieved at NOVA and to cheer the bold and brilliant futures that await them?

Send your long-distance dedication to PresidentsOffice@nvcc.edu by Friday, May 7, and I’ll create a Spotify playlist that honors our newest NOVA alumni, and it will become part of the history of Graduation 2021. Please use the subject line “song” and, if you’d like, include a sentence or two about what our students’ success this past year has meant to you.

Kasem used to sign-off each AT40 by saying, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.” Thank you for always helping our students see and reach for the stars!

Happy Graduation!

Anne