GOLDEN WEST COLLEGE: Degrees of abundance

About 400 Golden West College students tossed up their mortarboards Friday at the school’s annual commencement, as the class of 2008 gained degrees in everything from cosmetology to business to welding. Due to clouds and rain, the ceremony was moved to the school gym.

The commencement speech came from Jimmy Nguyen, a former student who has risen to become a full-time counselor at the college.

The R. Dudley Boyce Outstanding Student Award went to student Arlyn Lim, a nursing student who has rebounded from the death of her mother when she was 15 to win honors including the Assistance League of Huntington Beach Scholarship.

She was also president of the Alpha Gamma Sigma Society and an honors student. As a member of the GWC California Nursing Students Assn., she traveled nationwide to conferences. Lim now plans to get a master’s in nursing education, according to the college.

— Michael Alexander