SRJC: 3,000 GATHER UNDER THE OAKS FOR 90TH ANNUAL CEREMONYA HARD-EARNED GOAL ACHIEVED

More than 350 students received their diplomas at Santa Rosa Junior

College's graduation ceremony Saturday, their excitement undiminished by a

bitter recession and the worst job outlook in years.

For more than 3,000 family members and friends, the commencement at the

John Surryhne Outdoor Stage was a symbol of hope and a bet on a better future.

''They face a fairly bleak job market and a very, very tough economy,''

SRJC President Robert Agrella said at a reception after the ceremony.

''Regardless of what goes on in the economy, you're still going to see a

lot of jubilation today,'' Agrella said.

It was the college's 90th annual commencement and Agrella's 19th. In all,

1,182 associate degrees were awarded for the 2008-2009 academic year, and more

than 2,500 skills and achievement certificates were also awarded.

In some cases, graduates of four-year universities have returned to the

junior college to obtain an occupational certificate because they have not

been able to find work in their field of study.

For university-bound grads, the task of finding the ideal job is still a

few years off.

Josh Maresca, a 21-year-old Santa Rosa resident, received his associate of

arts degree

in business marketing and will be attending California State University,

Sacramento, next fall.

''Man, I just feel really good,'' said Maresca, who was joined at the

ceremony by his mother, father, brother and girlfriend.

Maresca said he hopes that by the time he graduates from the university,

''the economy will turn around.''

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or

martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.