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Members of the Spring 2012 graduating class of Central Carolina Community College's Adult High School and General Educational Development programs show their joy at their accomplishment with different expressions as they turn their cap tassels from right to left, signifying that they are officially graduates. The commencement exercises took place Thursday, June 14, in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. About 150 students earned their diplomas.

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Central Carolina Community College President Bud Marchant (left) congratulates Herbert Taylor, of Lee County, on receiving his GED diploma during the College and Career Readiness Department's Adult High School and General Educational Development Commencement Exercises Thursday, June 14, in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. Taylor was also one of three student commencement speakers.

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LaKuan McKoy (second from left), of Lee County, receives big hugs and congratulations from (from left) his grandmother, Cathy Reid; mother, Tina Reid; and family friend Bryont Fields, following Central Carolina Community College's Adult High School and General Educational Development commencement exercises Thursday, June 14, at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. McKoy earned his high school diploma and plans to continue his education at the college.

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Rachel Umberger (right), of Chatham County, receives her GED diploma from Central Carolina Community College President Bud Marchant during the Adult High School and General Educational Development Commencement Exercises Thursday, June 14, in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. She was also one of the three student commencement speakers.

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Rachel Umberger (left) gets a congratulatory hug from her mother, Denise Umberger, following Central Carolina Community College's Adult High School and General Educational Development programs graduation Thursday, June 14, in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. Umberger earned a GED and plans to continue her education.

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Central Carolina Community College President Bud Marchant (left) congratulates Manuel Barillas, of Harnett County, on receiving his GED diploma during the Adult High School and General Educational Development Commencement Exercises Thursday, June 14, in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. He was also one of the three student commencement speakers.

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Maria Barillas (left), of Harnett County, congratulates her husband, Manuel Barillas, on receiving his GED diploma at Central Carolina Community College's Adult High School and General Educational Development commencement exercises Thursday, June 14, in the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. Manuel emigrated from El Salvador in 1980, worked at several jobs, became a U.S. citizen in 2006 and now owns his own business, Barillas Paint Co., in Dunn.