SPRINGFIELD — American International College celebrated its 139th commencement ceremony at the MassMutual Center Saturday morning, sending 603 graduates on in life with either bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degrees. For all the pomp and circumstance and good cheer, it was also a ceremony celebrating the unlikely. To start with, the Class of 2024 started college in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When he grew up in the McKnight neighborhood and ran with his crew to Interskate 91 or Riverside for fun, and the Boys and Girls Club for pretty much everything else, you ask folks how likely Mike Smith was to become somebody. Probably not likely at all, they might have said. No way he would become a special assistant to the president of the United States and serve as his senior director of cabinet affairs. The kid who was afraid to play dodgeball, because he might get hit, is a pretty unlikely candidate to become CEO of Americorps, the country’s largest public volunteer force.
