{"id":297302,"date":"2026-05-17T18:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/297302\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T18:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:55:33","slug":"el-paso-community-college-honors-nursing-program-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/297302\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso Community College honors nursing program graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 The El Paso Community College Nursing Program celebrated 81 graduates during its Spring 2026 Associate Degree of Nursing (ADN) Pinning Ceremony.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was held Thursday, May 14 at the Administrative Services Center Auditorium.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Of the 81 graduates, 22 graduated from the transitions program \u2014 LVN to RN.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a great feeling to be a nurse and make someone feel better,\u201d Hafid Guerrero, EPCC dean of nursing said. \u201cEPCC Nursing is the longest running school in the region. Hands-on is emphasized, so graduates are ready to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant Professor Daniel Parada was selected by the students as the faculty keynote speaker, and student speaker was Student Nurses Association President Laura Perez.<\/p>\n

According to her instructors, Perez has done it all at EPCC, showing her fellow classmates what resilience and passion look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cNursing school has a way of humbling you very quickly. One minute you think you are doing OK, and the next minute you are crying in your car after an ATI exam listening to \u2018The Climb\u2019 by Miley Cyrus like you are the main character in a movie,\u201d Perez told her fellow graduates. \u201cFor many of us, nursing school was never the only responsibility we carried. Some of us worked full-time jobs, full-time parents, caretakers, spouses all while trying to survive this program. But behind all the stress, there was something bigger carrying us through this journey: the people who believed in us. This pin is not just for us. It is for every family member or friend who encouraged us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ceremony included a pinning ceremony, marking the official transition from dedicated student to professional nurse, traced back to Florence Nightingale, who awarded her graduates \u201cbadges of courage\u201d to recognize their commitment to the sick and the suffering.<\/p>\n

Also awarded was the Daisy Award, a global recognition program established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who were touched by the compassion and clinical excellence shown by nurses who cared for their son, to an ADN faculty member and student. The EPCC Daisy Award winners were Angelina Sanchez as outstanding student and Anna Favela from the faculty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you look upon our graduates today, you will see two distinct cords that tell the story of their dedication,\u201d Nursing Assistant Professor Irma Carlos de Ramirez said. \u201cThe Apricot cord is the historic color of the nursing profession; representing the clinical expertise and compassion these students have mastered. You will also see many wearing the Teal and White cord, which honors nursing as a second career. This symbol recognizes the unique courage it takes to pivot from a previous life path to answer a new calling. Together, these colors represent a rich tapestry of experience that will deeply benefit every patient they touch. On behalf of the nursing faculty, it has been a privilege and an honor to be part of your nursing journey, we wish you the best in this new endeavor as nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the EPCC Nursing program, you can click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 The El Paso Community College Nursing Program celebrated 81 graduates during its Spring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,31335,108225,108226,108232,108230,108228,108224,108231,108229,108227,1049],"class_list":["post-297302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-epcc","tag-epcc-nursing","tag-fellow-graduates","tag-hafid-guerrero","tag-laura-perez","tag-nursing-program","tag-nursing-school","tag-pinning-ceremony","tag-professor-daniel-parada","tag-student-nurses-association","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}