Hundreds Mark Their Graduation : Commencement: Ceremonies are held in new Oxnard College gymnasium. Rites are also held at Moorpark College.

Just ask Dellissa Stevens what she did to get through college.

“Oh, what didn’t I do,” she says with a laugh.

In the last eight years, Stevens has worked as a bus driver, a security guard and math tutor--working day, swing and graveyard shifts. Anything, nearly, to fulfill her dream. The crazy, long hours concluded on Friday when the 32-year-old Oxnard woman walked across the stage in Oxnard College’s new gym, shook hands with the college president and returned to her seat.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” she said after the ceremony, beaming and looking just a bit overwhelmed. “I’ve had eight years of being in this twilight zone, and now it’s all over.”

For students on both sides of the county, Friday was a day of both fulfilled dreams and dreams yet to be realized. Moorpark and Oxnard community colleges held their commencement exercises as students donned caps and gowns and marched--some looking somber and reflective, others appearing glad that it was all over.

Its 19th graduation ceremony, the event at Oxnard College was held in the shiny new gymnasium. While the faculty and graduates filed in punctually, families and friends continued to drift in throughout much of the four-hour marathon.

More than 200 graduates participated in the college’s ceremony while a packed house of about 1,500 looked on, bellowing and cheering as their loved ones marched across the stage.

A female vocalist sang the national anthem, as the public address system struggled a bit to overcome the constant drone of the ventilation system. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. And then they sat. And listened.

“We need to reflect on the accomplishments of hundreds of students,” said Oxnard College President Elise Schneider in her comments to the graduates. “Oxnard College is truly a microcosm of the diversity that has enriched this nation. . . . Don’t be afraid to take that next step to fulfill your dream.”

As the graduates stepped to the podium, they took part in the college’s somewhat unusual ceremony. After having their names announced, each student was allowed 30 seconds to speak. The students thanked family, God and friends--pretty much in that order. Nearly half of the graduates addressed the audience and their fellow graduates in Spanish.

And they were happy. And proud.

“I’m proud about me because I made it to this stage and I’m ready to finish my education,” said Vanessa Calderon, 20, of Oxnard, who came to this country five years ago from Mexico to pursue a college degree. She has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship to study education at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks and hopes someday to teach English as a second language.

Across the county at Moorpark College, graduates assembled outside in the central quad under majestic trees to collect their diploma covers and shake the hand of their college president.

Under clear, blue skies, about 300 of the 776 students eligible participated in the commencement exercises. Moorpark’s 1994 Teacher of the Year Tomas Sanchez offered observations and thoughts to the students, including: “The receiving of your diplomas is not the end of a journey, but the beginning. You can now began a lifelong quest for knowledge and learning.”

Commencement speaker Fred Kavli echoed Sanchez. “Learn, learn, learn,” admonished the Moorpark businessman, who is president, chairman and chief executive officer of Kavlico Corp., Moorpark’s largest employer.

Born in Norway, Kavli came to the United States decades ago. He delivered a rather somber address, citing what he perceived as the large threats of a soaring federal budget deficit, trade imbalance and overpopulation to America’s standards of living.

“Look out for your future, no one else will,” he said. “But I envy you. You’re living in a very exciting time. . . . In your lifetime, you might find life on other heavenly bodies or maybe even intelligent life.”

Moments later, like clockwork, as in every other graduation, the rows of students stood one by one and marched toward the stage to receive the hearty congratulations of college officials they probably had never before seen.

One proud father was so excited that he held a video camera to his left eye and a 35-millimeter still camera to his right eye as his daughter walked across the stage.

The beach balls were out, blown up and bopped around; a few mortarboards were spun into the air prematurely, and then the grand release of scores of black squares spiraling upward. It was over.

And like those at Oxnard College, the ceremony was a beginning, too, for the Moorpark graduates.

“I feel fantastic. Absolutely fantastic,” said Peter Ruffing, 20, of Thousand Oaks, who plans to transfer to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study soil engineering. As a tassel dangled off the brim of the black cowboy hat he wore instead the traditional cap, he said, with a broad smile: “And I’m ready to go on.”