The college experience was about resiliency for Colorado Mountain College graduate Shantele Mitchell.

Prior to her enrollment, she counted money for a bank and found herself yearning to count something more meaningful — like heartbeats. 

Born and raised in Jamaica, Mitchell is considered a “non-traditional” CMC student who worked full-time while pursuing her associate degree in nursing. 

On Saturday, Mitchell stood in front of 199 of her fellow CMC Steamboat graduates to deliver a graduation speech during the school’s 2025 commencement ceremony at The Steamboat Grand. 

She spoke of her life prior to college and described how much she has transformed as a person since then. She wished a similar transformation upon her classmates and attributed the change to her resilient nature. 

“Resilience is like driving through a Colorado blizzard. You can’t see more than five-feet but you keep going because you know the road is ahead,” Mitchell said in her speech. 

Following Mitchell was graduate Ella Dumke, one of 12 graduates of CMC’s new human services program. 

Dumke brought energy to the microphone and was tempted to recite Elle Woods’ graduation speech from the film “Legally Blonde” — but opted to write one from the heart instead and spoke of looking to support systems in times of need and finding elevated surfaces for dancing with friends at any moment. 

“Community is showing up; it’s support; accountability; it’s laughter; it’s dancing under the stars,” Dumke said. 

At all 11 CMC campuses in the state, 1,700 students earned degrees, certificates and diplomas between the summer of 2024 and the end of the spring 2025 semester. The graduates are now entering the world with the tools needed to chase their dreams. 

“No matter how hard things get, no matter how dark the world feels sometimes, there is still so much worth living for,” added Dumke. “Today is proof. Congratulations class of 2025, let’s go create something worth living for.”