By Diane DeBiase —

I just finished my application for Graduation Clearance and I am in complete euphoria. It is hard to believe that this is finally happening. After hours upon hours of homework, tests, and papers I am finally graduating.

For most, it is like clockwork. You graduate high school. You attend college, and after four years, you graduate. However, this is not always the case. I took fifteen years to complete my bachelor’s degree and I am very proud to tell my story.

It was September of 1997. I had just graduated High School and was eager to start college. I was in three honors classes, and really enjoyed commuting to JCSC (that’s what NJCU was called back in the day). In 1999 I met my husband and fell in love. Unfortunately school became a secondary priority for me. I got married in 2001 and had my first child McKenna in 2002. I wanted to go back to school. However, with a brand new baby, it just wasn’t feasible with time or money. So college took a back seat.

In 2004, my son Ronny was born. I truly wanted to finish my college courses. However, I decided to wait until he was about a year old. So in the fall of 2005, I did it. I borrowed money from my parents and went back to school. Granted it was only one class, but I was doing it! And, not only was I back in school, I was also doing fantastic in my class. I remembered how much I had loved school. I yearned to keep going and to finish my degree.

I continued to take one to two classes per semester, and was really getting close to finishing when I found out I was pregnant with my third child Jackson. I took a Spring 2009 class, and then didn’t register for Fall because I was due in November. Jackson came 6 weeks early and was extremely sick. He had Respiratory Distress Syndrome and had a stroke at birth. He has a form of Cerebral Palsy and has had therapy since he was very young. So YET again, college was put aside.

Fast forward to December 2012, here I am. I have been married for almost 12 years, and have three children ages 10, 8 and 3. I am working full time, going to school (full time next semester), interning at The Gothic Times, and shuttling my children between football, cheering, baseball, softball, basketball, and girl scouts.

My son Ronny is severely dyslexic and attends Orten Gillingham classes twice a week after school. Jackson is in a pre-school for children with disabilities. And I am somehow graduating. So for all of you out there who think you have a lot on your plate and you can’t possibly finish school….you can!! If I can do it, you can do it! It has taken me 15 long, hard years, but here I am.

As my daughter told me the other night, “Mom, you got this.” And I do.