Donning a green cap and gown, and cheered on by countless family members, one Bronx native had an extra special reason to celebrate receiving her associate degree from Bronx Community College (BCC) last month. Having first embarked upon her collegial path in 1961, Mercedes Yordan walked, for the first time, in a college graduation ceremony this past June, following a long life and varied career.

 

Yordan said she got married and had children soon after she started her studies the first time around. She said it meant she had to leave college, bringing her foundational time in academia to a halt. For a long time, she worked hard, supporting her family with a variety of stable jobs. She started off working as a secretary and then went into the travel business. Her longest career, though, was working for a hotel company for 31 years, but she never let go of her dream of graduating college.

 

“I worked in the travel business and then in the hotel business, and I did fine, career wise, but I always wanted to go back to school,” Yordan told Norwood News. “All my sisters are college grads; I’m the oldest, and I’m not and I wasn’t [a college graduate]. Every time that I said, ‘Okay, that’s it! I’m going back,’ something else happened.”

 

Yordan continued, “My kids graduated, then it was their turn to go [to] school, they finished, I’m going back, then my mother was too elderly, and I had to take care of her.” She added, “But I decided to [eventually] go to Bronx Community College and I put in a request. They asked, ‘Would you like to speak to an advisor?’ She [the advisor] said, ‘You used to be a student here; this was the last school you went to, so we can just reinstate you. That’s how I went back.”

 

However, Yordan had no idea what was coming next. She started back at BCC at the start of the spring semester in 2020, just before the pandemic hit! She said the challenge during the pandemic was that not all professors were computer savvy, with some older professors knowing how to use a computer for certain tasks only. “To transition to Zoom and to run a class [was difficult], and so every single one of them using the same system would have different set-ups,” said Yordan. She also noted that most of the students would have their cameras off, making class participation lackluster, which was disappointing to Yordan.

 

“You made a commitment; that’s the commitment you made and if you couldn’t honor that commitment, you shouldn’t have made it,” she said.

 

Despite these frustrations, because of her hard work, Yordan was a well-loved student by her classmates and professors alike. One of her more difficult professors, she said, sent her a “very kind message” at the end of the semester, offering her an internship at a business with which he had a connection. She was one of six students offered the position.

 

“I didn’t do it because I wasn’t interested in this,” said Yordan. “I told him, ‘I’m not interested at all in going into business but thank you very much for considering me.’ So, we ended up on a nice note,” she said.

 

Despite her lack of interest in working in business, it was an associate degree in business Yordan earned, since she had already accumulated some credits in that field. She said she originally pursued it back in the day for several reasons, most of which were practical, like her interest in math. Now, though, she is pursuing something different.

 

“What I wanted to do, honestly, was go to a school and say ‘Look, let me take whatever courses I want.’ I found this course of study called religion and part of it is that it’s an interdisciplinary situation, and what’s involved is the anthropology department, sociology department, archeology, all those things,” Yordan said. “So that’s what I’m registering for now, starting September.” She is set to attend Hunter College in the fall.

 

As for the BCC graduation, itself, Yordan described it as something akin to a pep rally, with around 1,500 graduates waiting to receive their diplomas and the families of the students waiting eagerly in their chairs, set up on the lawn.

 

“It was really well done, really well done, by some good speakers,” said Yordan. “Getting ready for it and all that was good. They had these beautiful big tents and one, it was set up when we were doing rehearsal, and I thought, ‘Oh, okay, this thing is big enough that the graduates will be in the front and the visitors will be in the back. No! The entire tent was graduates, but the grounds were big enough that they had chairs towards the back, or everybody was on the sides of it. All the professors were actually like a color guard in a way; we marched in, and they were on either side,” she said.

 

Yordan only had good things to say about the BCC faculty and staff, noting they were always there to help the students out. “They do everything in their power, the whole organization, for people to succeed,” she said.

 

The new graduate also had plenty of nice comments for her fellow classmates, who helped get her back into college life. “Beautiful campus, professional and caring professors, and staff whose purpose it is to see you succeed,” she said. Yordan also had a piece of advice for anyone who has a dream like hers.

 

“If you want to do something, just do it! Just ask the question. Find someone who can help you, look for resources that can guide you, but just do it! Put one foot in front of the other and just do it and don’t get discouraged!”

 

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this online story and the print version of this story misspelled Ms Yordan’s name. We apologize sincerely for this.