GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – The future awaits thousands of seniors as they are now ECU graduates.

ECU students celebrated all of their hard work Friday, turning the tassel and tossing the cap to what some say is the end of an era.

“Just like my cap says, just find your dreams. There’s never enough time in the world, so just go out there and have fun, and don’t ever think that you can’t do anything,” said Naz Staton, a social work graduate.

This is especially true for one student-athlete, Cameron Moore. “It’s been a journey, just a lot of COVID, took a hit there. I had to take some time off because I couldn’t provide for myself financially, and then I ended up, instead of going to school, going home and making money,” said Moore, a communications graduate.

Moore said one of the biggest highlights of his day is being a first-generation graduate for his family.

“It’s good for the family. I know they’re coming, and they’re going to enjoy this moment because I’m the first generation, so it’s going to be a pretty exciting thing for them, so I’m excited, yeah,” said Moore.

Part of his time spent at ECU went to helping find a possible career path.

“Just getting into my passions, like drawing. I’ve got eight books; I’ve been making my own comics since 2015,” said Moore.

Others use this day to celebrate one last time with those who made the past four years so memorable.

“I got my last couple hours here in Greenville, so I’m just gonna enjoy it with my friends that I made here,” said Angel Gomze, a construction management graduate.

There were about 20,000 people at the ceremony Friday morning, and a total of 3,800 students graduated with individual colleges having their own celebrations Friday night or Saturday.