Graduating is a huge milestone in anybody’s life, but when it comes on the same day as the arrival of a baby, then that’s an achievement not many have experienced.
For Kelsey Hudie, who studied at Henry Ford College, Michigan, that’s exactly what happened. And thankfully she had the support and admiration of the college president, Russell A. Kavalhuna, who made an exception to the planned ceremony to ensure the safe delivery of Hudie’s baby.
According to Kavalhuna, the pregnant mom had warned him that the birth of her little one was impending. The student was 38 weeks pregnant and had shared she was actually dilated — meaning that baby was on the way out!
So to help Hudie achieve both goals, Kavalhana quickly called the heavily pregnant graduate on to the stage to collect her hard-earned degree in liberal arts, so she could rush off to the hospital.
He explained to the audience: “I have to tell you, I wasn’t planning to speak this early in our commencement.” He then proceeded to confer the degree on Hudie who had a broad smile as she cradled her rather large bump.
Her will power to finally receive her certificate is inspiring for all those who are trying to juggle various components of their lives, while also focusing on family. As she shared with Click on Detroit: “On the Tuesday before we graduated, they said that I was dilated two or three, so that wasn’t going to stop me from walking across the stage.”
The college’s administration didn’t just re-arrange the order of the ceremony for the new mom, they also made her stage appearance as easy as possible by allowing her to sit on the stage to avoid climbing all those stairs. And as soon as she’d collected her sought-after certificate, she headed straight to hospital, where she gave birth.
The rest of the graduates then received their certificates once the traditional commencement speeches were over.
The determination of Hudie to fulfill two huge achievements on the same day is a testimony to her hard work that she will no doubt put into her future career as a teacher, while also being a super mom!
And today we celebrate...