Hi-Line Living: Graduates celebrate Northern

Victor Gone smiled as he stood outside the Armory Gymnasium at Montana State University-Northern in his graduation gown, surrounded by his fellow graduates and their families.

May 5 was a day he had been working toward for awhile.

"It was one I never thought I would get to," he said.  

Gone, like hundreds of others, had walked into the gymnasium and emerged hours later as a graduate.

Gone said he never dreamed of getting a Bachelors of Science in biology until 2014 when he graduated with an associate degree from Aaniiih Nakoda College.

"I went to school and I liked it so much, I figured I would just keep going," he said

Gone was one of 347 students who were eligible to receive degrees as part of the Class of 2018, just the latest wave of graduates in Northern's history.

Northern's history began March 8, 1913, when the Montana Legislature passed an act that established, but did not appropriate money for, the Northern Montana Agricultural and Manual Training School, Northern's website says. The act was amended by the Legislature in 1927 to allow certain academic subjects to be taught in Havre, the website says.

The college was temporarily housed in Havre High School and had five faculty when it welcomed its first 80 students in September of 1929. In 1932, four departments were relocated to East Hall, the first building on what is now Northern's campus, the website says. That building no longer stands on the campus.

Graduates were center stage on graduation day this year. They had walked into the Armory Gymnasium students and two hours later emerged as graduates, poised to enter the workforce.

The graduates were not the only ones celebrating that day.

An hour before the ceremony people began flowing into the gymnasium

Kelly Seevers was among the crowd of loved ones in the bleachers waiting for the ceremony to start.

Seevers was there to watch his son Justin graduate with a Bachelor of Science in diesel technology.

He said that his son had a love of trains that went back to his early childhood when he began collecting them.

"He has quite the collection at the house," Seevers said.

Seevers said that Justin had initially enrolled  in Northern's program as a way to getting the chance to work with trains, but during an internship he got through Northern he was able to work on other types of machinery, such as  tractors and forestry equipment.

He said that Justin still has about a month left of classes at Northern but that he already has a job set up with Modern Machinery in Spokane, Washington, where Justin will move to in about early July.

Although Justin enjoyed Northern and the doors it opened for him, Seevers said that his son is excited to be finished.

After the commencement began, Northern Chancellor Greg Kegel said in his address that he has become acquainted with many of the students and congratulated them.

"This class is an amazing class," Kegel said. "I am proud of your accomplishments, I am proud of the dedication that your family has given to you to get through the year. I just want to say, heartily, congratulations for what you have done."

American Indian educator and Little Big Horn College founding President Janine Pease, in her commencement speech to graduates, compared how graduates were about to leave Northern to how the buffalo people would relocate to a new camp.

She said that tribes in Plains Indian culture would often leave and set up camp in a new location eight or nine times a year at the urging of camp bosses.

People would be told by the camp crier 24-hours in advance that they were moving. The people would then reflect on the memories and blessings of the camp site that they were about to leave, but also look toward the promise of what the new destination had to offer.

"You are going to a new place, just as the buffalo people did on a day like today, you are appreciating all of the things, all of the ways, all of the furnishings and attributes of Montana State University-Northern," she said.

Northern Student Body President Collin Miller said to the audience that college is more than getting a degree and attending classes.

"It forces kids to grow into adults, make new friends and develop (into) the type of person you will be in society," Miller said.

At a celebration after the commencement at the Vande Bogart Library on campus, Dylan Sander said that graduation day was a big day for him.

"It's definitely a new chapter in my life," he said.

Sander who received, an associate degree in plumbing and a Certificate of Applied Science in welding, said that through his two years at Northern, he gained a lot.

"I learned a lot and it set me up for a career," he said.

Sander added that he already had a job lined up with Lee Riddick Plumbing and Heating in Glasgow. He said he was set to begin the following Monday.

The key to success in college is showing up to class and completing assignments on time, he added.

"If you can get those two things down, you are set pretty much," he said.

Beyond the classroom, Sander said, while at Northern he did work study as a janitor working in buildings throughout the campus, something he said that he would recommend. The extra money from the job allowed him to pay for gas and he said the program is flexible when it comes to a student's schedule.

Outside the gymnasium after the ceremony, Jessica Hoel was scanning through the crowds for her family.

She had just graduated with a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice and a minor in psychology.

A full-time sergeant in the Montana National Guard, she said her degree could help her become a law enforcement officer, but her real goal is to one-day be an FBI agent.

Hoel, who is from Polson, said her time at Northern marked the first-time she had lived away from home for an extended period of time.

The close-knit, small town atmosphere of the campus is what made Northern so great, Hoel said.

"Northern is small, and we are very homey and very friendly," she said.

She said that she was also able to get some experience in law enforcement through a job as a dispatcher with the Hill County Sheriff's Office.

"I enjoyed it. It gave me just an inside look at what happens within the department," she said.

Hoel said that she enjoyed being a part of the community not just on campus but in Havre.

"There are always events going on, everybody is looking out for each other," she said.

Jamie Toscano came from California to Northern two-and-a-half years ago on a football scholarship and just graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration.

He said that his time at Northern was his first time living outside California.

The experience was a big change at first, but it wasn't long before he was able to adapt.

"People are just so friendly out here at Northern. It was just easy to adapt coming from a different state, a different culture," he said.

Toscano said he finished his classes in January and moved to Los Angeles, coming back for the graduation ceremony. He now works as an accounting clerk.

He said that he made a lot of friends at Northern, and so Havre and Northern will always have special meaning for him and his friends.

"We are all going to know where we all met, and it's going to be Havre, Montana, and MSU-Northern," he said.