The 2008 Edgecombe Community College graduation ceremony started at 7 p.m. on the dot Friday.

It was not a moment too soon for the 306 anxious graduates and the capacity-plus crowd inside Keihin Auditorium.

The commencement speaker for the hour and 15- minute ceremony was state Rep. Joe Tolson, an ECC educator for 27 and a half years before entering the legislature.

Before diplomas were handed out, two annual awards were given to members of the ECC staff; the excellence in teaching award and the ECC staff award.

Fourteen-year math instructor Fred Erich was stunned to hear his named called for the teaching award, even after ECC President Dr. Deborah Lamm described in detail his effective teaching methods to the crowd. He wiped away a few tears after receiving his award.

"I was dumbfounded," Erich said after the ceremony. "I just couldn't believe this.

"For me to be speechless, that's unusual," Erich added.

The staff award went to computer and network technician Brad Hill, a five-year employee of the college. Lamm pointed out about Hill saved the community college a lot of money simply by fixing computer equipment himself instead of a contractor doing the repairs.

After the awards were given out, Lamm introduced Tolson. Tolson said he would keep his speech brief, unless he "got off on a tangent about the benefits of technology," one of his favorite subjects.

Tolson told the crowd that when he talks to private companies and industry about settling in North Carolina, the first thing he mentions is that the state has "a good community college system."

He encouraged the ECC graduates to continue their learning, "because of the complex (business) world today" that is influenced by globalization, technology and different world cultures.

"These three areas will present some challenges, (and) I hope you are prepared to meet those challenges," Tolson said to the graduates.

Tolson also said that the American education system "must refocus" on math and science in order "to be competitive in the global marketplace."

He stated that the number of engineers India educates is larger than the entire population of the United States.

"We can not become complacent, thinking we can compete without expanding our knowledge base" about the rest of the world, Tolson said.