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Niccole Landrum of Madison graduated on Dec. 16 with a certificate in Practical Nursing. With her are husband Wyatt and one-month-old son Parker.

Niccole Landrum of Madison celebrated two big events on Friday: Her graduation from ������ with a Practical Nursing certificate and the one-month birthday of her son Parker.

He was born on the day she was supposed to take her last test, but she wound up taking a make-up test instead.

When she learned she would be pregnant while finishing nursing school, her first thought was “Oh, my goodness!” But she and husband Wyatt were thrilled.

“I knew it was perfect timing. We had tried for so long to have a baby,” Landrum said.

Parker slept through the ceremony in his dad’s arms while mom walked across stage to pick up her diploma. “I had worked so hard for it and I wanted him to be here with me,” she said.

Her next step is to continue on in the Transition to RN program and pick up a degree.

On Friday, Hinds graduated nearly 900 students who received 1,263 degrees and certificates, meaning some graduates received more than one credential. Of that number 554 chose to participate in one of the three ceremonies on Friday at the Muse Center on the Rankin Campus.

Among the graduates, nine achieved summa cum laude, a 4.0 grade point average; 46 achieved magna cum laude, 3.6 to 3.99 GPA and 110 achieved cum laude, 3.2 to 3.59.

Hinds President Dr. Clyde Muse noted that many students want to make a better life for them and their families.

“The power of education is that it drives our vision for a better life.  And, while the graduates who sit upon this stage today represent a diverse set of circumstances, they are connected by their belief that a community college education is a step up to a broader opportunity to build a better life,” Muse said.

Dexter Holloway, assistant executive director for Workforce and Economic Development with the Mississippi Community College Board, was the speaker for the nursing and allied health graduate ceremony on Friday, Dec. 16.

“Some of you who have scratched, scraped and clawed to get this degree;  juggling the responsibilities, trying to find enough time to study, making sure that you had your tuition and funds to get to class,” Holloway said. “Congratulations – because you made it! These trials and tribulations will help you with challenges to come. Cherish this tremendous accomplishment. You have so very much to be proud of, and be assured that all of us here celebrating with you today are very proud of you.”

������ is celebrating its 100^th year of Community Inspired Service in 2017. The college opened in September 2017 first as an agricultural high school and admitted college students for the first time in 1922, with the first class graduating in 1927. As Mississippi’s largest community college, ������ offers quality, affordable educational opportunities with academic programs of study leading to seamless university transfer and career and technical programs teaching job-ready skills. Hinds has six locations in central Mississippi. To learn more, visit or call 1.800.HindsCC.

New mom among ������ nursing, allied health graduates.