400 receive degrees at YSU today

YOUNGSTOWN

“Breathe in, breathe out. Move on.”

That quote from legendary recording artist Jimmy Buffett was emblazoned across the top of the mortarboard of Celeste Chance as she prepared to enter the next phase of her life.

Chance, 50, was among the 400 people who received degrees Saturday during summer commencement ceremonies at Youngstown State University’s Beeghly Center. It’s become a motto for the life of the Buffett fan.

Chance said she’s been a preschool teacher at the Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership for 13 years and plans to stay there.

“My job requires teachers to have a bachelor’s degree, so I really needed to do this,” she said.

Like Chance, graduate Melanie Batcho of Mineral Ridge also has a job, where she plans to stay for the time being, working as a part-time secretary and human-resources assistant at the Vista Centre in Boardman. She hopes, though, to eventually move upward.

Like many graduates these days, Batcho is leaving school with a hefty student loan debt. She owes some $26,000 that she borrowed to fund her education.

“That’s the price of a nice car,” she said. “It’s going to be tough to pay it back, but at least I have a job so I can start working on it.”

She feels for those graduates who owe similar amounts, or more, but have not yet secured a job to help them begin paying off the debt.

For the complete story, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.