Honoring
Graduates

Jamyiah Teasley

Forensic Science/Biology
Savannah State University, December 2023

I’m my mom’s first child to go to college and pursue a degree. I wanted to set an example for my little sister—show her that you can do anything as long as you put your mind to it. That was really a big part of my motivation.

My father passed two months before I graduated. He really is the one who pushed me a lot. So having to go back and do finals and exams, it was incredibly difficult. But I knew that if he was still here, he would want me to work hard and ace those finals so I could graduate.

Cassandra Moon, Jamyiah’s mother
Out of my four kids, she’s the only one to pursue going to college. My two oldest boys didn’t go. I, myself, got an associate’s accounting degree. So, to pass the torch to her and to see her be the first one to go to a four-year college, it was amazing.

Beloveson Philippe

Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Studies
Southern University and A&M College, December 2023

I majored in Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Studies. It allows me to work in the community. I can work with kids on the spectrum or doing psychiatric care, or even just work on improving the parks or anything recreational for the community. You don’t find too many people who go out of their way to study something that helps others, to be a listening ear. But that’s what made me love my degree and made me come up with goals in life: to try to better myself and then better the community that I’m in.

Dontrell Richardson, mentor and high school teacher
I think that one of the big obstacles facing students today is just understanding what it takes to get into education—financial aid, scholarships—and how to manage those. There are not always those types of resources these days that help students with that. I do a lot of work with first-generation students. Their friends and family don’t know anything about being at a college, being in university, or being out of state. So, it’s important that they get help and assistance to be able to pursue their education and careers.

KerriAnn Marie Lark

Political Science and Government, General
Clark Atlanta University, May 2024

My first two weeks at college, my grandfather, who was my best friend, passed away. It was the hardest thing for me, because he was always meant to be at my graduation. My mom and my grandmother just told me, “You have to finish. He wanted you to get a degree.” So that became my motivation: to make him happy, to make myself happy, and believe in myself.

Everybody goes through tribulations, and it’s all about how you overcome them. I kind of took on that mindset. I also had a lot of professors at the time who were nurturing and provided an environment for me to learn and keep going and thrive.

Bianca Wagner-Lark, KerriAnn’s mother
It was a challenge for me: being a single mom, raising two children, and putting myself through college. It was a goal of mine to make sure that she graduated debt-free. I made sure we exhausted as many avenues as possible on obtaining that goal. And I wanted to make sure that she had a truly fresh start as an adult. A lot of us who have graduated, we’re still a little lagging because of a lot of student debt. So, I wanted to make she wasn’t saddled with that.

Celebrate your grad’s accomplishment.

You know how hard your graduate worked, and you want them to know how proud you are.
We’re here to help you celebrate this memorable family milestone.