Photo - Owain Jones
JAMESTOWN – With the end of the semester coming to an end and commencement in sight, it is tradition to have a member of the student body give a commencement speech in which they talk about the journey they embarked upon once arriving here on the campus of Jamestown Community College.
This year, the student speaker has been a student for three academic years while also being a standout first baseman on the baseball team. The 2022 student speaker is none other than Yordangel Gonzalez.
Nominations forms were sent out campus-wide to find that particular student speaker and that was when Assistant Director of Athletics & Compliance Ashley Lund knew that Gonzalez would be the perfect student to speak for the entire student body.
"From the moment he stepped foot on campus, Yord had a goal in mind," said Lund. "He knew that he needed to apply himself both academically and athletically. He's overcame a lot of obstacles while being here with COVID but he still managed to excel in both. He had to do a lot of things on his own to work out and his academics grew tremendously. Also his personally is what a model student-athlete should be. He was a leader both on and off the field and has put himself in good positions to be a role model. All of those characteristics didn't go unnoticed. I thought he would be the perfect person to represent not only the student body, but a great representative of athletics as well."
A native of Miami, Florida, Gonzalez arrived at JCC in the 2018-19 academic year but after only play one game in the spring, their season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coming back for the 2019-20 academic year and with uncertainty of there even being a season to be played, Gonzalez trusted the athletic administration and came back with hopes of hitting the field. Gonzalez and the Jayhawks played a shortened season where he appeared in 22 games but saw his fair shares of struggles at the plate, collecting nine hits with a batting average of .158.
Getting his eligibility back from the suspended season and a blanket waiver for the shortened season, Gonzalez instilled his trust in JCC to return for one final season.
After a coaching change just days before the spring season started, Gonzalez didn't let that effect his plate where he grew tremendously as an athlete.
Gonzalez played in 33 games where he collected 36 hits, 17 extra base hits, and saw his batting average jump to .356. Gonzalez also saw his OPS take a massive jump, going from .532 during the 2021 season to 1.029 during the 2022 season.
Of the field, Gonzalez was a pillar within the JCC community. He would come to support his fellow student-athletes at their games and would be scene around campus being involved in a variety of activities.
When Gonzalez got the news that he would be this year's student speaker, he was at a loss for words but being the leader he is, is was able to find the right ones to say.
"It is an honor to be selected as the student speaker for graduation," said Gonzalez. "It means the world to me because it has given me a voice to express the journey I have gone through."
Gonzalez has offered one piece of advice for any one coming to JCC and that is to never give up on your dreams.
"Never give up on dreams and even when times get hard, remember that the journey is well worth it," Gonzalez said. "Even when you struggle, you are still one step close to your goal. #Prosper"
From everyone here at JCC, we would like to thank Yordangel Gonzalez on his hard work and dedication to the institution and baseball program. There will be big shoes to fill after you are gone. Just know, that JCC will always be your home.
Congratulations once again to Yordangel Gonzalez on being selected as this year's commencement student speaker!
