Man graduates after 31 years, hands diploma to mom for Mother’s Day

A scrolled piece of paper is a golden treasure for the hardworking mother of a 48-year-old man from Tennessee, United States.

Jerry Priddy, a jubilant graduating senior at Tennessee State University (TSU), will attend his commencement exercises on Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in Music– 31 years after he originally enrolled in the program.

In an interview with local news site Tennesse Today, he described finishing a college degree as a ‘long and bumpy road’.

Priddy entered TSU in 1985, but his full-time work and classes complicated his college life. Due to financial misfortunes, he decided to suspend his studies and work. He thought of an academic comeback after a year or two, but the plan was handcuffed when he got married and had a son. “Things take a different turn,” he remembered.

Every year, Priddy would repeat to himself that he will “re-enroll in the next semester”.

After financial woes, health devastations came in next after he was diagnosed with diabetes. He also suffered from an unavoidable spider bite that resulted in the deterioration of his health. As he entered his forties, he had his left leg amputated in 2012 and his right leg in 2014. Currently, he is patiently waiting for his kidney transplant operation.

Marching with his prosthetic legs, Priddy re-enrolled in his campus in 2014 as a means to embolden his young son to value education over anything else.

After the ceremony, Priddy will hand his diploma to his mother, Georgianna, an employee of TSU, as a Mother’s Day present for her compassionate contributions to his studies.

“It makes you proud of your family to see a child go through this and continue on,” she said in an interview with the local media site. “That’s a beautiful Mother’s day gift, the best I could receive.” Gianna Francesca Catolico