The Holmes Community College Ridgeland Campus held a Pinning Ceremony for the Surgical Technology Class of 2021 on June 24 in the McGowan Workforce Training Center. Five students were honored. 

Graduates included: Anne Shannon of Brookhaven, Ashley Boles of Canton, Precious Conner of Vicksburg, Kaylee Dupre of Hazlehurst and Leah Brooke Irby of Canton.

Guest speaker Cate Wrenn, a Holmes alumna, was the salutatorian for the Surgical Technology Class of 2020. She specializes in neurology in orthopedics at Merit Health Central.

“A surgical technologist’s place in the operating room compares to no other,” Wrenn said. “We are a direct safeguard to the sterile field. We are a surgeon’s right-hand man, or in this case woman. Where the surgeon leaves blanks, we fill them in. We are an integral part of each and every operation: a second pair of hands, a fresh set of eyes and the ultimate counterpart. “

“As you move into the medical field, always keep your integrity,” Ridgeland Campus Vice President Dr. Don Burnham said.