By: Marissa Spencer
This past Friday, May 10, 107.7 The Bronc’s Cruisin’ From Commencement contest commenced! Our Top 10 finalists gathered together in the Student Recreation Center on Rider’s campus to compete for the grand prize; the keys to the brand new, 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross L courtesy of Team Toyota of Princeton.
This year’s winner, Agnese Ceccarelli ‘24, a Mathematics and Actuarial Science major from Italy, received not only a brand new set of wheels, but two years of ToyotaCare for free, featuring: free oil changes, complimentary roadside assistance, and much more. Congratulations Agnese! While everyone’s post-graduation plans may differ, our winner sure has an interesting agenda. “I’m going home to Italy, then I’ll be back here to work this summer,” exclaimed Ceccarelli.
With over 20 total accomplished student entries the competition was cut close. Our Top 10 finalists included: Ashika Gopalkrishnan (2nd), Khaled Alargha (3rd), Maya Ortiz (4th), Haley Hartline (5th), Johnny Doty (6th), Grace Ramsey (7th), Alex Long (8th), Gionna Santana (9th), and Eve Sylvester (10th). These lucky students all received free graduation party catering courtesy of Gretalia Hospitality Group.
With a plethora of accomplishments, these contestants have garnered within their Rider experience(s), there’s so much to share. Former student CEO of Saxby’s, the highly popular on-campus cafe, Information Systems major Grace Ramsey (7th place) reflected on her time being a CEO and a division one athlete, “It gave me a lot of experience outside of the classroom.”
Our finalists had nothing, but great things to say about this year’s contest, “Rider impacted my life so much so I wanted to share that,” 8th place winner and esteemed brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Health Science major, Alex Long shared with Beyond The Mic.
This year’s Cruisin’ From Commencement was a celebration all around with a myriad of hardworking and grateful student contestants, “I just wanted to share my story, and no matter what happens I’m thankful to be in the Top 10,” added Musical Theater Major, Johnny Doty (6th place) who will be playing Seymour Krelborn in “Little Shop of Horrors” this summer in Montana.
This year’s honorable mentions include Kiarra Barrientos, Ashley Blanda, Francessca Clarke, Jacqueline Cook, Jada Dos Santos, Branden Dhurpat, Zachary Fernandez, Eric Kim, Cynthia Leavey, Morgan Meyers, Christopher Smith, Evan St. Jacques, and, Arianna Wright.
Here at 107.7 the Bronc we are so proud of our graduates and contestants! We’re sending them off into the post-collegiate world with the best of success.