Proud: Wayne Community College grads' stories examples of determination

It is hard enough juggling a college class schedule. Imagine doing it with a family to care for and a job to hold down.

It takes more than determination and commitment. It takes courage.

Those are the stories of many of the graduates who collected diplomas, degrees and honors at the Wayne Community College's graduation ceremonies this past week.

And there to cheer them on, in addition to their friends and classmates, were their families -- children, wives, husbands, mothers and fathers.

How proud they must have been of every single person who crossed those stages.

The journey was not easy for many of them. There was still housework and homework to do as well as the normal, everyday stresses that go along with running a household.

Some of them also dealt with the demands of military service and the call to serve that didn't always mesh with a college class schedule.

There must have been times when all of them wondered if their efforts were ever going to come to fruition, if all the hard work was worth it.

We can tell from the looks on their faces that in the end, they decided it was.

It takes a special kind of courage to decide to change your life, to decide to become the example you want to be for your children and to live out the potential you see in yourself.

But many people spend most of their lives simply dreaming about what could have been.

The Class of 2014 actually got out there and did it.

What an example these men and women have set for the children they have or will have some day. They can talk with authority about what happens when you set a goal, dig deep, work hard and finish what you started. There could be no better lesson.

Congratulations to you all.

Published in Editorials on May 10, 2014 11:26 PM