[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”18129″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text]Today I am the museum education assistant manager at a museum that I absolutely adore. And I am fiercely proud of my Auburn education and the excellence that it embodies. I believe being an Auburn graduate speaks to character and integrity of the individual. We believe in value of doing whatever you do to the best of your ability. We believe in something greater and bigger than us.
We believe in Auburn.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/2″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Graduating from Auburn was a dream come true, one I hardly hoped to dream.
I come from a line of strong women who believed in hard work. My mother was the first of her family to graduate from high school. I am the first of my family to attend and graduate from college. Neither one of us allowed difficulties or hardships to keep us from our goal of getting an education and striving to be the best versions of ourselves we could possibly be.
And it wasn’t easy. For either one of us. My mother raised me as a single parent after my father passed away when I was five. She sacrificed so much — undoubtedly more than I will ever know — in order to propel my opportunities and to support my dreams. She worked multiple jobs while I was in Auburn.
After I was diagnosed with MS, she encouraged me, sending me notes and cards in the mail to let me know that she believed in me, that she knew I was capable of finishing my studies. When I walked across the stage at graduation, it was because of both of our hard work. I didn’t walk alone; my mother’s steps were right beside mine.
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