CSU Channel Islands grads share their stories

CAMARILLO, Calif.-About 2600 Cal State University Channel Islands students turned their tassels at  weekend graduation ceremonies in Camarillo.

Each has their own unique story.

Graduation speaker Spooner Greenbird, who grew up on a reservation in Michigan before moving to California.

Her late father was Chippewa, her mother was Irish.

She told her classmates she was familiar with the campus years before it became CSUCI.

She remembers visiting the former home of Camarillo State Hospital as a child to wave to her mother when her mother was a patient with schizophrenia.

Her mother called her Sunshine.

Later when her mother was dying of cancer she told Sunshine her dying wish.

Sandra Lynn Soney wanted her daughter to overcome anxiety and get her degree.

Greenbird earned her bachelor's degree in psychology on Saturday.

After the ceremony Sunshine looked up at the sky and said, "Oh mom, I did it,  you asked me and there were times I didn't know this was going to happen and I wouldn't let you down, Mom thanks for getting me through this, I couldn't have done it without you."

Her mother died in 2014.

The day after graduating Greenbird visited her mother's grave

Another graduate has a romantic story.

Graduate Oleksandr Nikolenko is a Ukrainian citizen whose bride, Liza, escaped the war in Ukraine and traveled for days to marry him two weeks ago.

She saw him earn his master's degree in computer science on Saturday.

They flew to Seattle on Sunday where he already accepted a job offer from Amazon.

And another graduate put off celebrating and headed an hour to work right after Saturday's ceremony.

NewsChannel 3-12 videographer and editor Gene Silva, who was recently nominated for an Diversity/Equity/Inclusion regional Emmy just earned his bachelor's degree in art.

Congratulations go out to all the graduates and their parents, relatives and friends who helped them along the way.