For nearly 65 years, Southwestern College has opened doors for South County students seeking opportunity, reinvention, and a better future. Every commencement ceremony reminds us why that mission matters now more than ever.
This year, the graduating students from the Class of 2026 reflect the very best of our region: focused, hardworking, diverse, and determined. Together, including Spring and Summer candidates, we are celebrating 2,963 graduates who earned 4,418 degrees and certificates. Among them is a 72-year-old graduate proving it is never too late to pursue an education, eight pairs of siblings crossing the stage together, and one remarkable graduate earning six degrees and two certificates.
Those numbers are impressive. But I believe the stories behind them are what truly define Southwestern College.
Eduardo Cordero came to Southwestern College after years working in the building trades and serving in a union apprenticeship program. When construction work slowed and he faced uncertainty about his future, Eduardo walked into our admissions office searching for direction. What he found was something bigger: counselors, success coaches, scholarship staff, and faculty who saw his potential. Today, Eduardo holds a 4.0 GPA and membership in Phi Theta Kappa. Recently, he has been awarded multiple scholarships to continue his academic journey into construction inspection and public service.
Pia Maria Flores Palacios spoke honestly about arriving at Southwestern College believing community college was somehow “less than.” What changed that perspective? She discovered the culture, activism, creativity, and sense of community that exists here every day. She found students organizing around issues affecting immigrant communities, advocating for legislation in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., producing a student newspaper with national recognition and a powerhouse debate team. Her words captured something powerful: Southwestern College is not defined by limitation. It is defined by possibility.
That spirit is everywhere across our campuses.
Southwestern College serves one of the most dynamic and hardworking communities in California. Many of our students are first-generation and bi-national college students. Many are balancing jobs, parenting, caregiving, military, or financial hardship while pursuing their education. Some are returning to college after years away. Others are just beginning to imagine futures they once thought were out of reach.
And still, they show up.
They show up for early morning classes after late night shifts. They show up after dropping children off at school. They show up carrying fear, uncertainty, and self-doubt and continue forward anyway.
That determination deserves recognition, especially at a moment when higher education is being questioned nationally.
Across the country, colleges are facing enrollment declines, funding challenges, and skepticism about the value of a degree.
At the same time, technology and artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping industries and the future of work.
But here in South County, we continue seeing the transformative power of education every single day.
At Southwestern College, students are preparing for careers in healthcare, biotechnology, engineering, public safety, education, and skilled trades — fields that remain critical to the future of our regional economy. More importantly, they are learning how to think critically, adapt to change, and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Community colleges have always been engines of economic mobility. But, they are also something more personal. They are places where confidence is rebuilt. Where second chances become new beginnings. Where students discover they belong in rooms they once doubted they could enter.
As both president and alumnus of Southwestern College, I understand that impact personally.
I know what this institution means to families across South County because I see it reflected in our graduates every year. I see it in the student parent studying between work shifts. In the veteran rebuilding civilian life through education. In the adult learner returning decades later to finish what they started. In the first generation students who arrive uncertain and leave prepared to lead.
The Class of 2026 enters a world filled with challenges, but also tremendous opportunities. Their stories remind us that talent exists everywhere, even when opportunity does not always arrive equally. That is why institutions like Southwestern College matter.
Our graduates are not waiting for the future to happen to them. They are shaping it themselves. And South County will be stronger because of it.
Dr. Mark Sanchez, Ed.D. is Superintendent/President of Southwestern College.
