When students arrive at Delta College, many come with a plan.
Some come for a degree. Some come for a certificate. Some come because Delta is close to home, affordable or familiar. Others arrive as first-generation students trying to navigate a system no one in their family has walked through before.
But somewhere between the first class and the final semester, plans change. Students lose people they love. They question whether they are good enough. They discover talents they did not know could become careers. They find mentors, programs, classmates and professors who remind them to keep going.
This year’s commencement comes as Delta prepares for a significantly larger graduating class. According to college data, the number of graduates increased by 144 percent, giving this year’s ceremony a larger sense of scale as students prepare to close one chapter and begin another.
For graduating students Alexandria Jackson, Angelica Cabonios and Estefy Picon, Delta became more than a campus. It became the place where they learned to survive uncertainty, trust themselves and imagine futures that did not always look like the ones they had planned.
Jackson, a Psychology major, said her time at Delta has been shaped by opportunities, resources and support from programs such as Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, known as EOPS, and CARE. But her final year changed in October, when she lost her husband under circumstances she said remain the subject of a legal battle.
Six months later, Jackson is still moving through grief that has reshaped not only her daily life, but also the future she once imagined for herself.
“I have no idea what my plan is anymore,” Jackson said. “I used to want to be a drug counselor, but now with my husband’s death, I have no idea.”
For Jackson, graduating while grieving has meant trying to finish school while carrying the weight of a loss that does not fit neatly around deadlines, assignments or commencement dates.
She said her professors responded with understanding, giving her extra time and checking in on her personally. One professor, Heather Bradford, stood out.
“My professors were absolutely great with understanding what I’ve been going through and giving me extra time, as well as personally checking in on me, especially Mrs. Bradford,” Jackson said.
Cabonios, a culinary arts major, started at Delta in August 2023. She described her experience simply, but with the kind of certainty that comes from surprise.
“It was everything I never imagined,” Cabonios said.
For her, Delta became the place where a personal passion turned into a professional path. After her first year in the culinary program, Cabonios was offered an internship through the program, an opportunity she said changed her life.
“My biggest accomplishment in my time here is being offered the internship more than once,” Cabonios said. “To be offered an amazing opportunity once is everything, but to have it offered more than once was out of this world.”
Even as doors opened, Cabonios said some of the hardest challenges she faced were internal. She questioned herself, her skills and whether she was good enough to be where she was.
“My challenges were more personal — constantly questioning myself and my skills, if I was good enough to be where I was,” Cabonios said.
What helped her stay was not one person, but a community. Her classmates, head chef, close friends and co-workers in the Artisan Bakery pushed her forward when she felt like giving up.
Now, Cabonios is employed at Ruby’s Bakery in Lodi, one of her dream bakeries. After graduation, she plans to continue working there while building toward a bigger dream: opening a place of her own someday.
As graduation approaches, Cabonios said she feels both excited and nervous.
“It almost doesn’t feel real,” she said.
Her advice to future Delta students is to treat college as more than a checklist of classes.
“Go to the hangouts, events, pop-ups, shows, everything. You’re not just here to learn and get your degree — you’re here to grow as a person overall.”
For Picon, Delta became the place where she learned that the “safe” path was not the only path.
She started at Delta in fall 2020, right after high school. As a first-generation Latina college student, she said she entered college with limited resources and little access to people who understood what it meant to want more while not knowing how to get there.
At first, Picon said she followed the path others had encouraged her to take. Since she had already taken related courses in high school, counselors suggested she pursue early childhood education and become an elementary school teacher. But even then, she knew something else was calling her.
“I knew in my heart my passion was somewhere else, in media, but I never thought or believed it could be a career,” Picon said.
As she moved through early childhood education, Picon said she felt lost. Then she met Celina Navarro, an adjunct counselor at Delta, who introduced her to media classes and encouraged her to try them.
“My life changed forever,” Picon said.
In Delta’s Digital Media space, Picon said she found more than a subject. She found a place where she was welcomed, challenged and encouraged to become the best version of herself.
She went on to earn an associate degree in digital media with a 4.0 GPA, an associate degree in interdisciplinary studies, arts, humanities and social sciences, and Digital Media certificates with emphasis in video and audio. She also received an Outstanding Student Award.
In the 2025-26 school year, she finished both an associate of science and associate of arts in early childhood education.
She applied to transfer for a bachelor’s degree in media and was accepted to every CSU she applied to, including Sacramento State, San Jose State, San Francisco State and Stanislaus State. She was also accepted to UC Santa Cruz.
“My plans after graduation are to choose my university and enjoy my time there, soak in every moment because only I know how this dream is made a reality,” Picon said.
