As he welcomed Pitt Community College's class of 2006 to graduation, school President Dennis Massey lamented the school's space crunch.

Overcrowding forces students to take courses through distance learning on the Internet rather than in classrooms, Massey said Friday night at Minges Coliseum.

But for one graduate, PCC offered all the space in the world. Gemmel Bagley flew in from Okinawa, Japan, to pick up her associate's degree in health information technology Friday night. Graduation was her first PCC function.

Oxford native Bagley, whose husband is in the Navy, completed her course work from U.S. military bases thousands of miles away, in Germany and Japan. Stateside visits came only to do clinical work in Granville County.

PCC's distance learning courses gave Bagley the flexibility she needed.

"It was good, taking two or three classes at a time," Bagley said. "It worked out with my schedule."

Bagley was scheduled to fly back to Okinawa this morning. She said she may receive a job offer from the U.S. Naval Hospital there.

Bagley was one of roughly 375 students graduating Friday. She wasn't the only one who traveled a long way to get her PCC degree.

Nelly Wheeler, an honors graduate and president of PCC's Rotaract club, grew up in Bogota, Colombia. She moved to North Carolina with her husband, a Methodist missionary, more than eight years ago. At the time, she knew no English and little about American culture.

On Friday night, she received her associate's degree in nursing.

"It's been challenging, a lot of work," Wheeler said. "But I could not have picked a better place."

Wheeler has taken a job at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

Like Wheeler, Eboni Reid will take her next step within Pitt County's borders. A graduate of the general associate in arts program, Reid will begin classes at East Carolina University in the fall.

Reid's mother, Janice Johnson, was part of a 14-person cheering section for Reid on Friday. Friends and family held up brightly colored signs and cheered when Reid's name was called.