Randolph Center
Tortolano, who collected her degree in business technology and management from Vermont Technical College in a ceremony on Friday morning, was on a fishing boat with family friends — the Potter family from Quechee — in July 2016, when their boat sank. Though they were rescued by another fishing boat, the experience had a lasting impact on Tortolano, a Barnard resident and 2013 Woodstock High graduate.
“It kind of gave me a better idea of how to view every day and appreciate the people in your life and the opportunities that are given to you,” Tortolano said in an interview after the ceremony.
Completing her degree is one such opportunity. Tortolano was one of 504 students set to graduate from Vermont Tech in two ceremonies on Friday and one this morning. More than 200 of those graduates are the first in their families to graduate from college, the school’s president, Patricia Moulton, said in her remarks. The graduates included those from four countries — the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Australia — and 14 states.
The class also includes the first three students to graduate with bachelor’s degrees in entrepreneurship, the first student to graduate from Vermont Tech with a master’s degree in computer science and two students Moulton said she’d known since they were babies.
It also included parents, single parents and veterans. Moulton lauded all of the graduates for their accomplishments and emphasized the school’s central mission.
“We all share a collective dedication to the idea that higher education can be a transformative experience and should be accessible to all who are willing to do the work it requires,” she said.
Student speaker Hannah Fernald, who graduated with an associate’s degree in veterinary technology, said her path to graduation wasn’t easy.
Fernald, who is from Wareham, Mass., on Cape Cod, said it was difficult to be far from home, but the support from faculty, staff and other students helped carry her to graduation day. She achieved this despite a bout of salmonella last fall, which caused a heart attack and a three-day hospital stay. She was left with a persistent heart condition, acute pericarditis, which she is still fighting. Her health issues coincided with the death of her great-grandfather.
“I was so worried I wouldn’t pass all of my classes,” she said. But, “with the help of everyone around me, somehow I did it.”
Commencement speaker Janette Bombardier, vice president of commercial and industrial customer relations and business innovation for Green Mountain Power, urged graduates to consider their career path as less of a ladder and more like a jungle gym, a concept she said she borrowed from Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In.
“There’s only one way to get to the top of the ladder and there’s a lot of ways to get to the top of a jungle gym,” Bombardier said. “So as you proceed through your next steps in your chosen career and in life, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to choose which rung to grab next, whether you go side to side or upside down, and how you interact with everybody else on the jungle gym.”
Bombardier, a licensed professional engineer who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Vermont, described the importance of teamwork, persistence and willingness to step up when a job needs to be done.
She also described the importance of knowing when it’s time to move on to another opportunity. She went from IBM to Global Foundries, where she served as vice president of site operations, a role she wasn’t initially sure she had the skills to perform, she said.
“You just need to lean in and be persistent,” she said.
Tortolano will grab a spot on the jungle gym next month when she begins work as a customer service representative for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont. Fernald will grab hers with a job with Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
List of graduates from the Upper Valley: Forrest M. Peront, Fire Science, Bethel; Stephen Davis, Electrical Engineering Technology, Bethel; Angela M. Gaudette , Associate Degree Nursing, Bethel; April Anne Scott, Business Technology & Management, Bradford, Vt.; Jennie May Mallary, Veterinary Technology, Bradford, Vt.; Aidan Mayberger, Computer Software Engineering, Bridgewater; Dune Mayberger, Computer Engineering Technology, Bridgewater; Danielle J. Armstrong, Associate Degree Nursing, Canaan; Bryden Charles Bonasera, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Chelsea; Elisha Mattoon, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Chelsea; Solenne J. Thompson, Associate Degree Nursing, Chelsea; Jessica J. Desilets, Associate Degree Nursing, Enfield; Christa L. Ferguson, Associate Degree Nursing, Fairlee; Shane Graydon Upton, Civil & Environmental Engineering Technology, Hartland; Katie G. Nordman, Associate Degree Nursing, Hartland; Guenevere A. Carreon, Associate Degree Nursing, Lyme; Allan C. Wheeler, Civil & Environmental Engineering Technology, Newbury, Vt.; Kelsey D. Sanville, Respiratory Therapy, Newbury, Vt.; Lauren L. Tomlinson, Dental Hygiene, Newbury, Vt.; Caitlin M. Jones, Associate Degree Nursing, Newport; Michelle L. Wormwood, Veterinary Technology, Newport; Alexander Christopher Head, Applied Business Management, Quechee; Megan H. Rudy, Associate Degree Nursing, Quechee; Nicole A. Cyr, Business Technology & Management, South Royalton; Erin J. Tortolano, Business Technology & Management, South Royalton; Evan D. Roe, Diversified Agriculture, South Royalton; Ethan W. Thomas, Civil & Environmental Engineering Technology, South Royalton, Vt.; Lisa A. Atkinson, Associate Degree Nursing, Thetford Center; Ann C. Frost, Associate Degree Nursing, Topsham; Amy E. Carpenter, Associate Degree Nursing, Tunbridge; Joshua Butterfield, Automotive Technology, White River Junction; Miranda F. Handy, Associate Degree Nursing, White River Junction; William Joseph Whatley, Landscape Design & Sustainable Horticulture, White River Junction; Hunter Landin Grace, Landscape Design & Sustainable Horticulture, Windsor; Kimberly L. Blanchard, Associate Degree Nursing, Windsor; Philip Christopher Marks, Architectural Engineering Technology, Woodstock; Kyle Leo Rigali, Electromechanical Engineering Technology, Woodstock; Annie L. LaBombard, Associate Degree Nursing, Woodstock.
Update
This story has been updated to include a list of graduates from the Upper Valley. The official list wasn’t available at press time.
