Extraordinary women graduate and inspire at Hunter College ceremony

Lucy Yang Image
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Extraordinary women graduate and inspire at Hunter College ceremony
Lucy Yang reports from Radio City Music Hall.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Among the 1,800 graduates of Hunter College Tuesday, there were not one, but five valedictorians.

All had a 4.0 GPA and all are young ladies ready to shake the world.

Rina Schiller is off to JP Morgan to break some glass ceilings.

"The valedictorian thing happened by accident. I was excited about my classes and tried my best. I kept getting A's. By the end, I couldn't believe this happened," Schiller said.

Qin Lin hopes to become a dentist

"All my hard work paid off. Glad to be here," Lin said. "Lack of sleep. Dysfunction. Completely worth it."

Only one could speak at the commencement, so all five submitted a speech. The faculty picked Daniela Mikhaylov to deliver her words of wisdom.

"In the beginning, I constantly struggled my way through school since English was my second language and my parents were foreign to the American education system," Mikhaylov said.

Mikhaylov's parents were Jewish refugees from Russia. Despite her bumpy start, clearly, she is now on the fast track.

Mikhaylov was accepted into medical school after sophomore year.

"I really love research and caring for patients, and I want to combine both together," Mikhaylov said.

Among the many inspiring and impressive graduates there was Darline Bertil. She lost both hands in the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

WATCH BERTIL BEING HONORED AT GRADUATION:

Darline Bertil honored at Hunter College graduation ceremony

Bertil plans to get a master's degree and then work with disabled children someday.

"I want to use my potential to help others, to be the best person I can be," Bertyl said.

Those were just a few of the amazing students from the class of 2017.