UTICA – Parker Linston dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and was on a destructive path that included violence, selling drugs and addiction. That all ended when Linston’s father, whom he didn’t have a relationship with at the time, picked him up from a rehabilitation center in 2023.
Today the 21-year-old Tupelo man is sober. He earned a High School Equivalency degree in 2024 while also taking college classes and living at Hinds Community College’s Utica Campus.
On May 16, dressed in a dark gray cap and gown and wearing tan, lace-up boots, Linston walked across the Utica Campus graduation stage to receive a credential for completion of Hinds’ one-year Carpentry Technology program.
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus Building Trades Instructor James McGee, left, and student Parker Linston, 21, of Tupelo, celebrate Linston’s graduation from the college’s one-year Carpentry Technology program on May 16, 2025. Linston received his High School Equivalency degree on the campus before tackling the carpentry credential after recovering from drug addiction. Linston thanked Hinds staff and instructors for their support in his education journey and plans to pursue an associate degree at Hinds in the fall.
“I thought I was going to die in the streets. I didn’t expect to be here, to be in this place,” Linston said in an earlier interview. “I was in a hopeless situation, I didn’t expect that people would care about me, but my instructors really do.”
Building Trades Instructor James McGee said Linston has come a long, long way since his father picked him up in Tupelo and took him to Raymond to start over.
“I try to instill the belief that they can do this,” McGee said at graduation. “Parker is a great kid. He has come a long, long way, overcoming addictions and more. I told him, ‘Don’t fall back into your old ways. You are better than that’.”
Linston plans to work toward an associate degree in the fall and join the military after his next graduation ceremony. He said he is proud of himself. Still, he feels a step or two behind others his age.
“In a year’s time I will be closer to where I want to be,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been here if my folks hadn’t wanted this.”
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus Class of 2025, left, sit alongside the Class of 1975. Fifty years ago, the Utica Campus was known as Hinds Agricultural High School College. The ‘Golden Class’ received commemorative diplomas on May 16, 2025, an annual tradition on the Utica Campus.
Linston was one of 900 Hinds graduates awarded 1,213 credentials in four ceremonies held over three days, which means many graduates earned more than one credential. Among the graduates, 437 graduated with honors, including 220 cum laude, 3.2 – 3.59 GPA out of 4.0; 154 magna cum laude, 3.60 – 3.99 GPA and 63 summa cum laude, with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Also celebrated during Utica Campus commencement exercises were the Hinds Agricultural High School College graduates of 1975 or “Golden Class.” Class members donned gold-colored caps and gowns and sat in rows of seats adjacent to the 2025 graduates. Each received a 50th anniversary diploma.
The graduation speakers for the Class of 2025 were students receiving degrees who have shown leadership and excellence in their fields of study and were selected by their instructors and peers.
Jasmine Jones, 20, of Natchez, left, celebrates her friend, Zoe Griffin, 20, of Raymond, during Hinds Community College – Utica Campus graduation on May 16, 2025. Griffin, a Skills USA medal winner and member Phi Theta Kappa honor society, gave the invocation during the ceremony.
Honors student Zoe Griffin, 20, of Raymond, gave the invocation. She received an associate degree in early childhood education and plans to transfer to a four-year university to continue her studies. Her mortar board was decorated with the words, “you believe in me so I can believe in them,” a reference to the children she is looking forward to teaching.
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus graduation speaker Jaydia Morris, 19, of Madison delivers her address on May 16, 2025. Morris, a Hinds women’s basketball player and Honors student, received an associate degree.
The graduation speaker was Jaydia Morris, 19, of Madison, who attended the Utica Campus, where she played women’s basketball and was an Honors student.
Morris told fellow graduates the ceremony wasn’t just about walking across a stage or receiving a diploma, it was also about the journey that got them there.
“Long before we stepped foot on campus, life was already teaching us how to keep going. We’ve all had moments that tried to break us, seasons where the odds felt stacked against us. But even when it felt like everything was pushing us back, we kept moving forward, Morris said. “And that’s what makes this moment so powerful— not just that we made it, but how we made it through.”
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus 2025 graduates celebrate after receiving their diplomas on May 16, 2025.
Morris referred to Hinds as the graduating class’s wilderness. The trials, the moments when they wanted to give up but didn’t – those were not detours. They were destiny, she said, that “carried us and molded us.
“Like trying to balance assignments, jobs, and even personal storms all at once. Like calling home crying, wondering if we’d made the right choice. Like sitting in your dorm room feeling unseen, misunderstood, or just straight-up tired. But what we thought was breaking us was building us,” Morris said.
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus graduate Makya Taylor, 19, of Brandon rings the bell of historic Charles Bell Tower before commencement ceremonies on May 16, 2025, a campus tradition.
Finding their purpose was the “why” behind every struggle, every lesson, she said. The things each graduate has been through, the obstacles faced, the dreams chased—they’re not in vain, Morris said.
“They’ve been preparing you for what’s ahead. The world needs your voice. It needs your unique gifts, your perspective, your strength,” Morris said.
Mr. and Miss Utica, Roy L. Maye Jr. 21, of Hazlehurst, left, and Da’jnea Antoine, 20, of Grenada, celebrate on graduation day at Hinds Community College – Utica Campus on May 16, 2025.
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus honor students provide a history of the campus in front of Charles Bell Tower before spring commencement, then each ring the bell. From left are graduates Roy L. Maye Jr., 21, of Hazlehurst; Victoria Scott, 20, of Tallulah, La.; Makya Taylor, 19, of Brandon; and Zy’Nila Ky’Mia Conecin, 19, of Holmes County, Miss.
Hinds Community College – Utica Campus graduate Zoe Griffin, 20, of Raymond, shows off her colorful mortar board art before graduation on May 16, 2025. Griffin earned an associate degree and will pursue a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at a four-year university.
Shirley Hartsfield of the Hinds Agricultural High School College class of 1975 receives a 50th anniversary diploma at Hinds Community College – Utica Campus commencement exercises on May 16, 2025. Hartsfield still lives in Utica. Hinds honors the Utica Campus ‘Golden Class’ each spring.
Timothy Crisler, right, Hinds Community College Dean of Technology – Career and Technical Education, leads Utica Campus students and staff to graduation ceremonies on May 16, 2025.
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With six campuses in central Mississippi, Hinds Community College is a comprehensive institution offering quality, affordable educational opportunities with academic programs of study leading to seamless university transfer and career and technical programs teaching job-ready skills.
Our Mission: Hinds Community College is committed to moving people and communities forward by helping develop their purpose, passion and profession.
Our Vision: Hinds Community College will be a catalyst to create a competitive economy and a compelling culture for Mississippi.
Our Values: Hinds Community College aspires to the following IDEALS: Integrity, Diversity, Excellence, Accountability, Leadership, Stewardship.
To learn more, visit www.hindscc.edu or call 1.800.HindsCC.