PABLO — Saturday was a day for 148 Salish Kootenai College graduates in 22 different degree fields to look back and celebrate their accomplishments before voyaging onward toward the future achievements that await them.

The first to receive their degrees from SKC were not students at the college, rather students in life. President Joe McDonald presented honorary degrees to Senator Carol Juneau and longtime healthcare worker Barbara Durglo.

“Rub your congratulations all over yourself today,” Juneau said in addressing the graduates.

The state senator from Browning was reminded of her nephew’s grade school graduation she attended recently and watching him wiggle all over with joy as he received his commencement certificate paper.

“Today, as you go up on this stage and get your diplomas, be very, very proud of yourselves and everything you’ve accomplished,” Juneau added.

Dr. McDonald went on to tell the story of Barbara Durglo, a woman who quit school at age 14 to take care of an elderly woman who was a family friend, spending virtually every year of the rest of her life selflessly helping others. The president said that in the 1970s Durglo worked at the Woolley Family Hospital as a nurse’s aid before later moving into homecare work with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Health Department and her work with hundreds of native diabetes patients.

“Barb loves taking care of her people,” McDonald read from the podium. Durglo received an honorary degree in Native American Studies from SKC for her service to the community.

Then it was time for the graduates to take those final steps to victory and receive their diplomas in their respected fields upon the main stage. Montana Nevarez was the first name read, as the graduate receiving a bachelor’s degree in social work raised his fists high in the air in triumph, as the diploma walk had begun.

After 148 graduates had their time in the spotlight, Tribal Council member Mike Kenmille gave humbling congratulations to the new graduates in his closing blessing.

“As I look out there I see the rainbow of the many different people who have benefited from Salish Kootenai College,” Kenmille said. “Take the time to prosper in life and the time to recognize the many different roads you could’ve taken.”