A total of 284 rookies are joining the ranks of the FDNY and celebrated their graduation on Friday.

Friends, family and loved ones packed into the Christian Cultural Center in East New York to celebrate the new members of the department.

This class boasts the growing diversity of the fire department, with 46% of the class comprised of people of color. In addition, 28 of the graduating members are veterans from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy.

“I believe that any place you go to, you either leave it better or the way it was if you can’t change it… in order to change it you sometimes have to join some service,” said graduate Fallou Sall.

The class also includes eight women, bringing the total number of women in the FDNY to 169.