The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) will recognize 508 candidates for graduation to receive 770 degrees and certificates during its 53rd Spring Commencement on May 10 at the La Plata Campus.
CSM will award 531 associate degrees and 239 certificates: 41 percent of the students receiving awards are from Charles County, 34 percent are from St. Mary’s County and 22 percent are from Calvert County while 3 percent are from outside of the region.
Associate degrees will be awarded predominantly in the fields of general studies, nursing, arts and sciences and business administration, while general studies: transfer, general studies accounting: advanced and basic are the most predominant certificates. Of the graduates, 70 percent are female. The ages of this spring’s associate’s degree candidates range from 15 to 58. The oldest certificate candidate for graduation is 64.
The youngest candidate for graduation is Joseph M. Wolski, 15, of Dunkirk, who will earn an associate’s degree in engineering. Wolski began taking classes at CSM just a few weeks before his 14th birthday. He was homeschooled and completed high school following his first semester at CSM. “I was a little nervous because I was not used to public school—it was very new to me,” he said. “Everyone was at least five years older than me, but I guess they assumed that I was older than 13.”
It didn’t take long for him to settle into his classes and begin relating to his classmates, he said.
Wolski is transferring to complete a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering through a partnership between CSM, the Southern Maryland
