HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (April 26, 2010) – American InterContinental University Online, a leading provider of career-focused online education, held graduation for 250 graduates at Navy Pier in Chicago on April 24.
“Approximately 60 percent of the graduates who attended traveled from 32 different states to take part in the ceremony,” said Steve Tober, CEO of AIU and president of AIU Online. “I’m honored by the opportunity to celebrate this incredible accomplishment with these hard-working graduates and overwhelmed by the distances they have traveled to be a part of this very special day.”
Following AIU Online tradition, graduates were invited to submit speeches to the school for the chance to be the student speaker at graduation. The speeches were reviewed by the AIU staff. The student chosen for this year’s ceremony was Forwanda Simmons, a mother who received a bachelor’s degree in information technology and is continuing her education at AIU to earn her master’s degree in information technology with concentrations in IT project management and internet security. During her speech, Simmons addressed the reality of the current job market but inspired fellow graduates to use their education to rise to the occasion.
“When we take what we have learned and implement it into our chosen fields, difficulty becomes opportunity,” said Simmons. “Fellow graduates; the time has come for us to ignite the torch of excellence passed to us through the flames of great education. We must take the same self motivation, discipline and time management skills it took to excel in this learning environment here at the outstanding American InterContinental University and apply it to our chosen professions.”
Commencement speaker Joe Mayne, professional speaker and job search expert, also addressed the graduates and encouraged them to use the skills and information they learned at AIU to successfully market themselves in the workplace.

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