Education has always been important to Carolyn Patton, but life always seemed to “get in the way” every time she tried to finish her bachelor’s degree. The single mom was so busy working to support her two children that she repeatedly put her own education goals on hold, abandoning her college program on two separate occasions over the years.
When he was just 5 years old, her son Immanuel Patton noticed her struggling to get her degree, and he made a promise to help her. “I remember I just told my mom...one day, it’s gonna be you and me,” Immanuel said. “We’re going to get our degrees at the same time.” Those words proved to be prophetic for the mom-and-son duo, who recently walked across the stage at the university to collect their bachelor’s degrees together!
“That promise, he never allowed it to die,” said Carolyn. “It was continuously, ‘You know, mom, we’re gonna do this.’” Their path to graduation wasn’t easy, but Immanuel stayed true to his promise and helped his mother along the way. The two hold two associate’s degrees each, so in fall of 2020 they enrolled together in bachelor-level online courses. They both found the classes challenging, but Immanuel stepped up as the cheerleader his mother needed. “I said, ‘Ma, you’ve got to keep it going. I know you want to stop. We got to keep going,’” Immanuel recalled. “The main thing was just trying to get everything lined up and stay on top of her as well stay on top of myself.”
It took the Pattons two years to finish their bachelor’s degrees, hers in humanities and Immanuel’s in public safety administration. Carolyn plans to stay at her job as a coordinator, and Immanuel has accepted a job at university to help other students succeed in college, too.
Carolyn says she’s incredibly proud of Immanuel’s achievement, and she personally couldn’t have reached her lifelong goal without the support of her family, especially him. “Between my son and my daughter, they were my greatest supporters,” Carolyn said.
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