The importance of an education is common knowledge. No matter what the age, it amplifies your sense of pride, and opens the door to more opportunities. But sometimes life happens, and while you may be destined to obtain your high school diploma, certain situations can bar that opportunity. This 97-year-old woman knows all too well what that might feel like.
Margaret Thome Bekema finally received an honorary diploma from a Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, eight decades after she was forced to drop out to help her family. She was able finally able to don a mortarboard and fulfill her lifelong goal in front of her friends and family. School administrators from the high school in Grand Rapids presented her with the diploma at the Yorkshire and Stonebridge Manor senior community.
The Grand Rapids school, approximately 160 miles northwest of Detroit honored her as an alumna of 1936 with a Certificate of Membership to the school’s alumni association “The Pride.”
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
Earlier this year, Sister Maureen Geary, the daughter of Margaret’s cousin Marian, contacted the school and told them about her story. The school officials decided they needed to make her dreams of receiving a high school diploma come true and held a ceremony at the senior community in Walker, where Margaret currently resides.
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
Margaret would have graduated with the Class of 1936, but she left during her junior year to care for her three younger siblings because her mother was ill with cancer. She said leaving school at age 17 broke her heart, and she’s thankful for the recognition.
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
Congratulations Margaret! We admire your achievement!
IMAGE SOURCE: BOREDPANDA
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