Two students with exemplary grades told their fellow graduates at Paradise Valley Community College that accomplishments are important, but they are not THE most important thing in life. Instead, Megan Amphlett and Kim Martinez encouraged their classmates and commencement guests to be kind and live life to the fullest at the May 10th ceremonies, held at North Canyon High School.

Amphlett, 20, started taking classes at PVCC in fall of 2000 after graduating 10th in her class of about 540 students with a 4.64 GPA at North Canyon High School. She decided to attend PVCC upon receiving a President's Scholarship. This is a tuition waiver program offered to area high school students in the top 15% of their classes.

"When I graduated from high school, I didn't know my major and I had no goals or direction," Amphlett said. "PVCC is much cheaper then a university but provides the same quality of education. I really like that there's a sense of community at PVCC. It is a stepping stone to college."

During her senior year of high school, Amphlett was awarded a $20,000 Arby's Foundation Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded by Arby's and the Big Brother Big Sister program and requires applicants to have been a little brother or sister in the program. Amphlett was one of two high school seniors nationwide who was awarded this scholarship.

Since being at PVCC, Amphlett has maintained a 4.0 GPA and has been in the Honors Program, Student Council and Phi Theta Kappa. She also volunteers as a junior high leader at her church and works part time.

After several people told her they wanted to nominate her to speak at graduation, Amphlett decided to submit a speech and was chosen to be a speaker.

"I've always liked speaking, and I want to impact people in a positive way. I want to give people a 'wake-up' message so they can think about the bigger picture."

Her speech focused on what she's accomplished but with the message that her accomplishments don't define her as a person. "People aren't going to remember me by my accomplishments. Instead, they will remember me by how nice I was to them or how I treated them."

Amphlett will be attending ASU West in the fall where she plans to major in social work in hopes that one day she will be able to be a counselor or an advisor. "I want to be help people with their problems and have a positive impact. I have had a difficult life and I want to use my experiences to help others."

Kim Martinez, 42, also spoke at the graduation. She earned a 3.887 GPA. Martinez was raised in Tucson and graduated from Sahuaro High School. She attended Pima Community College with an emphasis in business.

Along with attending classes at PVCC, Martinez works as a payroll supervisor for Advance PCS in Scottsdale where she has worked for six years and has earned the title of "Certified Payroll Professional" from the American Payroll Association. She is also married and has two kids she takes care of during all of her "free time" between working and studying.

Her speech for graduation compared the "journey" at PVCC to a track and field event. "Some of us were sprinters, racing quickly through the PVCC course. Others of us were long-distance runners - moving ahead at a slower pace. Still, others of us were on an even more leisurely pace - stopping to take breaks now and then."

For Martinez, she juggled work, kids and her husband while attending classes. She said "I could almost set my watch to the call that would come in right before I had to leave for class - 'We're hungry. There's nothing to eat for dinner.' The good news is that they all survived and learned to cook."

Martinez is very active in her church by teaching Sunday school and serving on the personnel committee. She enjoys reading and would like to travel more since being an exchange student in the Netherlands one summer.

"My future plans are to continue my education by earning a four-year degree in communication," Martinez said. "I'm hoping to expand my career to include more emphasis on degree-related activity."

Martinez emphasized in her speech that "the speed of the individual races of each student doesn't matter. What matters is that we started, kept at it and finished."

There are 274 graduating students this year at PVCC. Biology professor, Jane Marks, gave the faculty address and entertainment was provided by the Paradise Valley Community Chorus, Puma Jazz Band and guest soloist, Rene Morgan Brooks.