SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Penn State Schuylkill graduated 54 students on Saturday.
Among the graduates was the campus' first international student to receive a four-year bachelor's degree, Akshay Javlekar, Mumbai, India.
Javlekar, who received his degree in Information Sciences and Technology, transferred to Penn State Schuylkill as a junior from the University of Mumbai and said he enjoyed the small campus life.
"It was really good and they had one-to-one teacher interaction," he said. "I have a job so I'm really happy. It really helped me."
Never having been in the U.S. before coming to Penn State, he said that the things he enjoyed most about the opportunity to experience American life was meeting new people and learning about other cultures.
Penn State Schuylkill's human resources director Jerry Bowman said that Javlekar was part of a program between Penn State and the University of Mumbai where students come in their junior year and complete the IST degree.
Already having secured a job, Javlekar will be working for a finance firm in North Carolina and eventually plans to go to graduate school to obtain his master's degree before returning to India.
He said that since a Penn State degree is so well-known and sought after, it will help him get into graduate school.
During the graduation ceremony, the keynote speaker was Karen Byrnes-Noon, Schuylkill County district attorney.
Byrnes-Noon is a 1977 graduate of Pottsville Area High School.
She began her studies at Penn State Schuylkill and then finished at the University Park campus with a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration.
She graduated in May 1981 with highest distinction then in 1985, graduated from Dickinson School of Law.
A prosecutor for more than 25 years, with 21 years spent in Schuylkill County, she was named the county's first woman district attorney, was the first attorney to present DNA evidence in Schuylkill County and the first to present this type of evidence in a homicide.
During her speech, she talked about all the things Penn State graduates have done.
She said that notable graduates include "the first African American in space," Guion "Guy" Bluford; the 1973 Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti; and Schuylkill County's first woman D.A., herself.
"As you leave here today, you will join the ranks of so many Penn State graduates that made a difference in TV, sports and I hope like me, in the county," Byrnes-Noon said. "Do your school proud."
The student commencement speaker was Jesus Rosario, who received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business on Saturday.
"I believe that it's our time to make a choice," Rosario said. "Let us choose to bring what we have learned at Penn State to the rest of the world. Let us choose to live by these principles everyday of our lives."