The setting for West Los Angeles College’s graduation yesterday was classic Western Americana, and who could have known that a heart-wrenching moment lay just ahead?
Only those classmates and faculty members familiar with his extraordinary story were confident that the class valedictorian, Stephen Los Banos, would turn into a thunder thief.
And the unpretentious way Mr. Los Banos did it was what made the act so enveloping and captivating.
In the secret-less modern world where the least public gesture is scripted and scrupulously rehearsed in advance, he served up old-fashioned reality, say, 1945-style.
The magnificent scenario from which Mr. Los Banos delivered his emotional gift was Rockwellian, and it probably should have been painted so that it could be preserved.
The Scene of a Memory
The football field was converted into an academic theatre for a couple of hours.
On a perfect Southern California afternoon in late spring, the sun glistened on West’s beaming graduates, gowned in royal blue and perched on whitewashed folding chairs, by the rows, in front of a fashionably tented refuge for the mavens of the day in mid-field.
The stands were filled to overflow, and the later arrivals lined the fences on the western sideline. Jubilantly waving to family in the stands was the main sport of the day.
A sunglasses salesman could have retired for life, so muscular were the rays lasering in from the yellowed western sky.
Recognized as the student who has achieved the highest rank among West L.A. College graduates, Mr. Los Banos stepped to the microphone. He had completed requirements for an Associate’s degree in a swift three semesters, accumulating a perfect 4.0 GPA. He will be transferring to USC with a major in communications.
Why He Started Strongly
In the beginning, Mr. Los Banos’s unswerving voice rippled with strength and conviction. No pressure because he was saying the boring words that valedictorians have been telling the assembled since Shakespeare’s time.
But then you knew a steaming train was rushing around the bend when the valedictorian, without warning, he mentioned casually that he once had been told his survival was at risk.
“On April 18, 2007, at the tender age of 21, I survived a stroke — extensive nerve damage to the left side of my body left me partially paralyzed. Half of my body could not move. Half of me could not feel. I had lost my ability to speak. I could not feed myself, bathe myself or do any of the simple everyday tasks that I could do before.
“Because of my age, I was put under critical care. Apparently I was at full risk of relapsing. My physicians made it pretty clear that based on the condition I was in, my health would rapidly deteriorate. They estimated I would survive for only two more years when I would be 23 years old.”
Without warning, he choked up and Mr. Los Banos was forced to interrupt himself.
Given the distance between him and his audience in the open-air setting, there was a delayed, slow-motion reaction.
Catching On
When the crowd realized this was an unscheduled stop, a slow, burgeoning cheer began, and arose above the field like an all-encompassing golden cloud.
Surely there were not dry eyes during the ovation that would not end. The cheering drowned the applause.
Unevenly, his composure returned.
“As the weeks went by, I slowly but surely began to regain my cognition…”
Every word was gently cradled in a stubborn tear that Mr. Los Banos tried to shrug away.
“I became aware of the severity of my situation,” and he sniffled repeatedly to dry up the rhetorical roadblocks.
“But I refused to believe it.”
Spontaneous applause again broke out. It swelled amidst scattered cheers.
“I began my treatment sessions with cardiologists, urologists and physical therapists, strongly believing in them.
“After a few months, something miraculous started to happen.”
Another long pause to reach out and recapture his poise and momentum.
“I put my physical therapist in shock on the first day I began to walk. It was a rapid progression from a wheelchair to a walker, from crutches to cane.
Unexpected Progress
“I surprised the doctors when I soon began walking without any assisted devices.”
The crescendo of applause erupted again.
“I regained mobility in my arms and hands, legs and foot.
“I taught myself to trust my body in motion as I was walking without feeling the ground beneath me on my left foot.
“I relearned how to carry things, to feed myself and to perform all of the basic tasks of life.
“This progress continued until I made a 99 percent recovery.
“Just as a side note, remember the thing I told you about surviving until my 23rd birthday?
“Later this month, I will be turning 26.”
The crowd roared.
“And I feel better than ever.
Encouragement
“If someone were to meet me for the first time, the person never would guess I was ever in such a medical condition, especially since I now speak and walk normally, for the most part.
“I usually prefer not to say anything, unless it is required for some reason.
“But I am sharing it right now because I am living proof that evening the face of such extreme adversity, there is always hope.
“It was up to me to find and embrace countless reasons to keep moving forward in my life.
“West Los Angeles College is one of the entities where I found hope.
“My experience at West has presented me with so many reasons to believe that life is indeed what we make of it, and that there are so many opportunities to take advantage of, academically, personally and professionally, if we take the time to recognize them.
“My time at West has validated that each and every one of us is capable of overcoming any obstacles we may face throughout the course of our lives.
“To my fellow graduates, you must believe in yourselves. Never underestimate the beauty and power that exist within you for these are the things that will flood your life with vitality and allow you to flourish and overcome the odds, no matter how superior they may seem.
“Go out there and face the world courageously. Achieve, create, innovate, inspire, and most importantly, be thankful for everything you have.”
