Phillip Daughtry graduated Ogeechee Technical College with an accounting diploma Thursday.
    He’s 41. He has spent much of his adult life running a trucking business.
    He initially decided to hone his accounting skills for his business by taking a couple of courses at Ogeechee Tech. But he found while taking the classes that he had a deep interest in the subject and pursued the diploma.
    Daughtry’s efforts were rewarded during a commencement ceremony at Hanner Fieldhouse on the campus of Georgia Southern University. Ogeechee Tech handed out 1,495 degrees, diplomas, certificates and GED diplomas Thursday evening.
    “(Ogeechee Tech) tremendously prepared me, not just accounting but just open my eyes to life, there is so much more out there,” said Daughtry, of Sylvania.
    Chris Clark, the president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, said during his keynote speech that life is full of decisions. Making the right ones will make you successful, he said.
    “You made the decision at one point to make your life better and make the right decision to get your degree. And that is why you are here tonight,” Clark said.
    Clark told the graduates that they must push forward and continue to make the best decisions, not just “pull into a parking spot and sit.”
    “The winner isn’t the one with the fastest car, he’s the one that refuses to lose,” Clark said, quoting NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.
    At the end of his speech, Clark left the graduates with one piece of advice for them to take with them into the world.
    “The bottom line is, everything we do is a decision,” Clark said.