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A Mountainland Technical College graduate receives her diploma Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Mountainland Technical College graduation is shown Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Mountainland Technical College’s 2026 graduating class marked the largest for a technical college in state history as nearly 3,000 students walked across the aisle Tuesday at the UCCU Center on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

With 89% of graduates currently employed or having accepted positions in the workforce, the message to the record-breaking class was one of resolution as they enter a landscape being reshaped by artificial intelligence.

“Technical education is not a fallback plan. It is a launchpad,” MTech President Clay Christensen said at Tuesday morning’s ceremony. “You’ve learned how to learn, you’ve learned how to troubleshoot when a screen goes blank, how to reassess when the first try doesn’t work. Those abilities are future proof.”

MTech offers 44 programs in the healthcare, apprenticeships, services, technology and trades field across its six Utah County campuses. Due to the class size, the institution split its commencement into two ceremonies for the first time.

The School of Healthcare graduation was held Tuesday morning, and The School of Apprenticeships, Services, Technology and Trades followed Tuesday evening.

Christensen told healthcare graduates the world does not need more spectators but skilled professionals that can “diagnose, design, secure, optimize and respond.”

He shared a story of an individual who was laid off from her manufacturing job due to automation advancements and enrolled in the medical assisting program at MTech. Intimidated by the technology and software, she started the program poorly and came to the professor to apologize. The professor responded to her with the following inquiry: “Do you want to understand this, or do you want to avoid it?”

The student worked hard, staying after class, forming study groups, asking questions and spending extra time in the lab until the process became second nature.

Christensen said that halfway through the semester, the student’s cohort was tasked with diagnosing a patient’s healthcare issue. As the clock was ticking, she noticed a small symptom others had yet to see.

“In that moment, something clicked,” Christensen said. “Not just the patient awareness but the confidence. (She) didn’t just learn how to diagnose healthcare issues. She learned how to think systematically. She learned how to persist with complexity. She learned that technology isn’t something that replaces people; it’s something people must learn to command.”

Christensen encouraged graduates to pursue these traits; to be willing to endure discomfort and move forward with innovation and integrity.

One student who appeared to embody that was MTech’s healthcare student of the year, Kimberly Tervort, a radiography student who joined the program after choosing to become a single mother.

Tervort told graduates her life had not gone the way she expected, but she learned how to adapt and gain an educational foundation to secure her daughters’ future.

“As we move forward in life, there is one thing that is certain, and that is change,” Tervort said. “Some of those changes are things we choose, and others are completely unexpected, but what we can control is how we choose to respond. Eight years ago, I never would have imagined where I would be now. I would urge you to embrace change and to challenge yourselves in healthy and meaningful ways.”

Christensen added that growth and learning is a continual endeavor.

“Our certificate is not a finish line. It’s proof that you can finish what you started,” he said. “It is proof that you can master complexity. But learning must continue. The most successful healthcare workers are perpetual students.”