Commencement Day is finally here. As Monet entered the building, excitement built as she saw her friends huddled in a corner, chatting vibrantly about their day ahead.  She slipped into her gown and fidgeted with her cap, waiting to jump into a few quick shots with her cohort.

I have a Masters degree, she thought to herself, as she stood listening to the pomp and circumstance playing in the background.  It was time for the ceremony to begin and the graduates fumbled around, moving into their respective positions.

She steadied herself, took her final look at her lecturers, Deans, and advisors proudly seated on the platform.  Her eyes shifted from the academic party to the faces of the friends and families assembled in the room.  She quickly scanned the room for her family and her eyes caught her mom’s.

In that brief moment, she saw her sacrifices, advice, love and most of all her pride.  You see, her mom did not get the opportunity to complete high school and made it a rule that all her children must complete that level of education, without exception. This was way beyond what she asked of me, Monet thought, as she exchanged a smile with her mom.

In that moment, humbled, she now understood the meaning of the generational degree. She was the first of her mother’s four children to graduate with a degree of this any level.

Monet took her place on the bleachers and absent-mindedly sat through, what to her was just another graduation ceremony.  She scanned the program and shuffled as the guest speaker gave the classic motivational speech. Finally, degree and hooding time, this is almost over, she thought as the students in her cohort rose to be acknowledged.

As her name is called – Monet Briel – Magna Cumm Laude, she heard the loudest cheers from her mom, sister, and best friend, and she made her way to the stage.  Another humbling moment for her, as she realized the importance of not only completing the degree but being the first of the family to complete with honors.

The process, while traveled alone, included all these people and the degree by extension belonged to all of them.  She made her way to the platform to be hooded and in that moment she exchanged another moment with her mom who held her hand to her chest as if to calm her racing heart. We did it was the message exchanged.

Weeks after the commencement ceremony, she heard her mom proudly say, my daughter just graduated with her Masters but I can’t recall in what area.  This brought a smile to her face as she thought of the high school drop out, turned Government Proof-Reader, who sacrificed her nights to read and edit her Master’s thesis. This degree truly was our degree, a degree that represented the sacrifice of her parents who did not have an opportunity, the pride of her siblings who cheered her on along the journey and hope for her children who will now know, there is more available to them.