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272 graduate from Darton

• About 170 Darton College students participate in the college's spring commencement ceremony.

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — Though it was just a “single piece of paper” that Darton College’s graduates received Wednesday night, the diploma will take them far in life, guest speaker for the school’s spring 2008 commencement ceremony’s told the group of about 170 graduates.

That piece of paper, said Pataula Circuit Chief Superior Court Judge Joe C. Bishop, represented the students’ vision, passion and commitment.

“That paper represents the commitment you made to change your world,” he said. “You changed your world and demonstrated your commitment by doing something constructive, something useful and something to make yourself better.”

Not only do their diplomas represent their commitments and desires, Bishop told the graduates, it shows that they are “ready, willing and able to excel.”

Still, he challenged the students to add another quality to those their diplomas represent — passion.

“That comes from meeting challenges and overcoming them,” he said. “I want you to be passionate every day about your single piece of paper. I want you to be passionate so you can avoid indifference.

“The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference,” he said.

“(You) leave with a clear vision, a commitment to your dreams and a passion to achieve your goals,” he said. “That single piece of paper will take you wherever you want to go.”

Darton spokesman Lisa Burton said 272 students were scheduled to graduate Wednesday, though only about 170 participated in the evening’s ceremony.

Oak Park resident Cortney Moody, a 27-year-old nursing graduate, said she felt good about receiving her diploma.

“It feels great,” she said before the ceremony. “It’s been a long journey, but I’m glad it’s over.”

Moody said she planned on going to work at Vidalia’s Meadows Regional Medical Center while continuing to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing online.

Linda Nix, a 43-year-old business administration graduate, said she started school again partially so she could complete her education, but also so she could inspire her son through a challenge to pass his math class.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s exciting” to be graduating, she said. “It was a learning experience.”

Nix said she planned on beginning school this summer at Albany State University to work on a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

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