RCC College and Career Readiness Graduation Held May 17

Col. Chris Bledsoe, U.S. Army, was the guest speaker at Randolph Community College’s College and Career Readiness graduation held Tuesday, May 17, at the R. Alton Cox Learning Resources Center auditorium on the Asheboro Campus.

Bledsoe, a disabled veteran who had planned on making the military his career, talked about how he started and stopped out of college several times after serving in Kuwait and Iraq and getting a medical discharge in 2004. His roadblocks included his dad’s illness and death, a medical emergency for his wife, and unemployment. After he and his wife moved in with his in-laws in Randolph County, Bledsoe attended a Veterans Benefits Day held at RCC and was encouraged by Cathy Aikens, RCC’s VA certifying official, to enroll in the Collision Repair & Refinishing Technology program. Even then he continued to encounter challenges, but he graduated in May 2015 with the highest GPA in his class and completed an internship at Petty’s Garage. “Never give up,” he told the graduates. “This is a beginning for each of you and the sky is the limit.” 

For more on this story and a list of graduates, go to http://www.randolph.edu/headlines/1366-2016-ccr-graduation.html.