An Aggie Grad and a Heavenly Dad

In 35 days I will walk the second graduation stage I have crossed. This one is a little bit more important than the first, but still exciting nonetheless.

High school was a strange experience for me. Living in our small town implied that you graduated with the same people you went to kindergarten with and your parents always knew if you got pulled over before you made it home. For me, it also implied that my dreams were different than most of my classmates. With a mom gracefully fighting through breast cancer and an inner craving for more challenge, I made the decision to graduate high school early.

See, the best thing about my parents is their unconditional support (maybe minus my nose piercing). They have always encouraged me, pushed me, sometimes punished me, and motivated me to keep running on my academic track. We all discussed the decision, then I put in the work to make it happen.

There I went.. a fresh 17-year-old walking the stage to get my high school diploma after only three years of going to school. The person handing me my diploma was the most intelligent person I have ever met.. my dad! Despite the fact that even as Salutatorian I wore my graduation cap on backwards the whole ceremony (as pictured), it was one of the most important moments I will cherish forever.

In about a month, I will follow in the footsteps of my dad graduating with a degree in Management Information Systems. He was a "techy" and soon I will nerd-ily get to prove with a piece of paper that I am too!

May 10th will be exciting, but bittersweet. After a courageous battle with brain cancer, my dad will be watching graduation in a much higher section of the stadium than most parents. I won't get to hear his voice say congratulations, take fun pictures together, celebrate with him and talk about the plans of "what's next". I won't get to hug him and hear him say he's proud. I won't get to thank him for always supporting me, motivating me, helping me with my math homework that only he understood, reminding me of my skills, or pretending to trip the bullies in school years ago when they walked by us.

The past four years have been indescribably hard and I have faced challenges that were completely unrelated to going to college. Every day has been a blessing though. I have learned so much about those who have surrounded me and even more about myself. This life is not an easy one, but it sure has shown me how easy it is to give love to others.

I will have to admit, I am a little nervous to graduate.. but I will let you in on a little secret.

When I walk the graduation stage on that Thursday morning, I am going to picture that same intelligent guy giving me my college diploma.