A Graduation

Today, funeral services were held for one of my students. She was a 58 year-old grandmother, who had returned to community college to fulfill her dream of of completing a degree. She worked a full-time job all day, then came to night classes at the small rural satellite campus [same one featured in the book Teacherpreneur].

She would come to me on Tuesday nights to study World Literature. She was excited and nervous. Like many of my older adult students, she struggled with some of the material, but was fiercely determined to succeed. She was also inspirational and helpful to her fellow students. I last saw her the week after Thanksgiving as we prepared for final projects. She was coughing, but everyone in the class (including me) had been sick with some type of respiratory ailment this semester, so we pushed through. She missed class the day of final exams, but made a point of contacting me to make sure she had done everything she needed in order to pass. Her final grade was a “B,” and she was thrilled because she was within a semester of graduating.  A week later she was dead from pneumonia.

My prayers are with her family.