HENNIKER — The sun was finally shining Saturday, just in time for New England College's 65th graduation where degrees were conferred upon graduate and undergraduate students from as near as Weare and as far as China.

Technology couldn't be ignored as some students were present because they earned their degrees online. The ceremony itself was streamed live over the internet.

NEC President Michele Perkins stressed to the 340 students that their ability to look back will assist them as they move forward with their lives.

“You have gathered many memories at NEC,” Perkins said. “These memories will be with you always, they are a gift you get to keep for the rest of your lives.”

Two student speakers received standing ovations from the audience.

Kimberly Sarfde, who earned her Master of Arts in professional writing, told students that she took the long way in earning her degree, quitting college once to raise her family, then going back to school while raising three children and holding down two jobs.

Sarfde, a sixth-grade teacher in Haverhill, Mass., urged her peers to “use the education you've received here to create change,” and write a new definition of success.

Spencer Marzouk, who earned his BA in business administration, told the audience that he had been an average high school student, but was able to achieve more than he ever thought he could and believed that was the case for many of his peers, as well.

“You have found yourselves in situations you thought were insurmountable and you've conquered them all,” he said.

Marzouk offered a challenge to his classmates.

“I challenge you to live out your dreams, I challenge you to live them out fast enough to create new ones and live those out, too,” he said.

Best-selling author Andre Dubus III gave the commencement address.

Dubus, whose book “House of Sand and Fog” was made into an Academy Award-nominated film, told students that instead of focusing on outward success, they should focus on growth.

“The tough times, the times of adversity, they're actually the only times we grow,” he said.

“We find parts of ourselves we didn't find before and we get bigger and better.”

Dubus, who described a childhood that included homelessness and violence, said he wasn't sure what made him pick up a pen and paper and begin to write, but it made him believe in divine intervention.

“You all have your intuition,” he said. “I want you to trust that little voice inside you that's not rational – that's the voice I want you to pay attention to.”

Dubus reminded students that life is short. “You only get one life as you,” he said.