Shay Bredimus never thought he would graduate from high school. When he was 10 years old, he was hit by a car while walking his bike through a school crosswalk. The bike's handle bar was lodged into his brain and doctors said the accident should have killed him.

On May 10th, however, Bredimus took his place among the 1,600 graduates at Mesa Community College as they walked across the platform to receive their diplomas.

The accident caused Bredimus severe frontal-lobe damage. "It was a miracle that I survived…to be able to walk and talk was absolutely amazing," he said. "However, after the accident I felt some residual effects which impaired my ability to do certain things like math and memorization. I tried hard to maintain in school, but I bounced around from five different high schools and," he added, "got myself into a lot of trouble. I didn't think I would ever graduate from high school, or have any kind of future for myself."

When Shay enrolled at MCC he got hooked up with art professor, Jim Garrison, who helped him tune his art skills and overcome his handicap. "I'm now looking forward to chasing my dreams as an artist," said Bredimus who will graduate with a 3.70 GPA. He has been awarded multiple scholarships to art schools across the nation.

"Shay has been one of my star students," said Garrison. "His artwork is just stunning, he draws and works in printmaking."

Shay has decided to accept an offer to attend the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Van Couver, British Columbia. According to his art instructor he had several other offers with scholarships.

Elizabeth Thomas-Hoffman was the student commencement speaker for the class of 2002. Graduating with an Associate Degree in Business Administration, she plans to continue her education in economics at Arizona State University. She said that she would attribute her college success to the small classes and direct relationships to her professors. "There was an emphasis on group learning that was so helpful to all of us in getting to know each other," she said. "This enabled us to go beyond what we learned in the classroom."

Alumni representative, Mark Milliron, PhD., who is CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College, will accept the graduates into the alumni association. Milliron attributes much of his professional career success to key lessons he learned while attending MCC in 1998. He credits the MCC faculty for encouraging him to continue his education; he was the first in his family to earn a college degree.

Commencement exercises were held at the center of campus.