San Joaquin Delta College celebrated the largest graduating class in its history Thursday as more than 1,300 students walked the stage during the school’s 91st commencement ceremony at Adventist Health Arena.
Delta College spokesperson Alex Breitler said 3,532 students applied for graduation during the 2025-26 academic year, seeking 4,409 degrees and 1,083 certificates. Last year, 2,773 students applied for graduation, and just over 1,000 participated in the ceremony.
Seventy-three graduates were honored for earning a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.
After being staged at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium due to capacity limits, graduates processed about two blocks and entered the arena. Cheers echoed through the arena as “Pomp and Circumstance” played and graduates entered the bowl to take their seats, greeted by family, friends and faculty.
Many graduates decorated their caps to mark the occasion and wore colorful leis and sashes. In the audience, family members held bouquets and plushies, waving to graduates and capturing the moment on their cellphones.
It was a special moment for Veronica Smith, 80, and her daughter Virginia Ordaz, 55, both of Stockton. Smith, the oldest member of Delta College’s Class of 2026, said she began taking classes there more than four decades ago and that earning her associate degree was a long-awaited accomplishment.
“I’m excited,” Smith said before Thursday’s commencement ceremony. “I’ve waited over 40 years to do this. I started 40 years ago in 1973. My first class was when Delta was still very young, and the classes were in Quonset huts at the end of Alpine Avenue, which is now University of the Pacific.”
Originally an administration of justice major, Smith, a mother of three, said she took several classes and accumulated 67 units before “life happened,” like many others.
“After so many units, I had to stop, raise my kids and earn a living,” Smith said. “Then all the kids are grown and everything, and believe it or not, I was looking for something. I came across my transcript and then I thought, ‘Oh, I should be able to get a degree from this in no time at all,’ and show my grandkids and the kids if this old lady can do it, they can do it.”
Once she found her old transcript, Smith met with a counselor who told her that switching her major to interdisciplinary studies would leave her only three classes short of an associate degree. She decided to do so, unaware that her daughter had also planned to enroll.
The mother and daughter did not find out they were both Delta College students until the semester had already started.
“We didn’t even know that each other had gone back to school in 2025,” Ordaz said. “We were sitting at Thanksgiving talking about FAFSA, and I said, ‘You’re back in school? I’m back in school.’ So I rushed to get all my classes done so I can walk with her.”
Ordaz, a communication major, returned to school after retiring from a 25-year career in public safety. She said she first began her studies in the 1990s as a journalism major but did not complete a degree.
When asked how she felt graduating alongside her mother, Ordaz smiled and said, “I think it’s awesome.”
For those unsure about returning to school, Smith emphasized that “education has no expiration.”
Delta College Superintendent/President Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson praised graduates, like Smith and Ordaz, for persevering through challenges to earn their degrees.
“The fact that you navigated these and so many other challenges to be here tonight to receive your degree demonstrates something you must never, ever forget,” Lawrenson said. “That you possess the strength, the faith and the tenacity to succeed.”
Lawrenson told graduates they are capable of creating positive change in their community and the nation, adding that it is needed right now.
“Being here tonight means you are fundamentally a strong person who can and will overcome challenges and achieve anything that you dedicate yourself to,” Lawrenson said.
Referencing Nelson Mandela, Lawrenson encouraged students to continue pursuing ambitious goals despite hardships they may face.
“Your story has been, and will be, a complex novel,” Lawrenson said. “Each chapter will bring unexpected twists and turns. You will meet amazing characters along the way, and they will abuse, inspire and sometimes disappoint you. Appreciate those moments and garner the wisdom that you can along the way.”
The superintendent/president urged graduates to continue learning and remain true to themselves.
“Remember, in your novel, you are writing the story and, above all, never lose your own voice,” Lawrenson said. “It will be the greatest story ever told.”
The next speaker was Freddie Almazan, a Delta College alum now based in Chicago and a motivational speaker.
At age 13, a gunshot to the head left Almazan paralyzed on the right side of his face and body. He attended Delta College as a first-generation college student without a clear plan, often questioning whether he belonged and having to figure things out on his own.
At the same time, Almazan faced physical challenges from being shot, which often left him feeling behind and uncertain about his future. Still, he kept showing up and eventually transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a sociology degree in 2017.
“To all of you here today, this moment matters, not because of the diploma you’re receiving, but because of everything it took to get here,” Almazan said. “I know that for a lot of you, this wasn’t a straight path. Some of you juggle school, work and family. Some of you showed up even when life felt heavy. Some of you wondered whether you even belonged here. That says a lot more about you than any diploma ever could.”
Wearing a black cap and gown, Majhema “Ema” Fua served as student speaker and said she found her purpose at Delta College after the death of her father. She is a first-generation, low-income Filipina-Visayan immigrant from Siquijor, Philippines.
Fua’s father died of heart failure when she was 17 years old. Around the same time, a storm devastated the island where she grew up.
“While my family and I were grieving, some of my relatives asked me, ‘How can you support yourselves? Do you even have a future? Your only source of income is gone,'” Fua said.
The week after her father was buried, Fua began the process of obtaining U.S. citizenship on her own. She immigrated alone in July 2023 and enrolled at Delta College, where her father had studied decades earlier.
Fua graduated with a degree in accounting, three additional associate degrees and two certificates. She also served as president of Associated Students of Delta College, was a student ambassador for the Foundation for California Community Colleges, competed nationally for Dark Horse Speech and Debate, and was a member of the Empowering Positive Initiatives for Change (EPIC) learning community, among other roles.
She will transfer to University of the Pacific in the fall with a full-ride scholarship and aspires to provide support to immigrants and Siquijodnons in Stockton and Siquijor, Philippines.
“Our journey does not end here,” Fua told her fellow graduates. “Life will throw unexpected challenges our way, but we are stronger than any obstacle, especially when we have loved ones and a community that supports us.”
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Graduates share stories of resilience at San Joaquin Delta College commencement
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
