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graduation

Xavier Jones is given his scholarship to Harris-Stowe Stete University in St. Louis.

A story out of St. Louis shows how some students have to overcome many more barriers than others on their road to success. But in this student's case, people in important positions recognized his perseverance and rewarded him in a way that could make his future less of a struggle.

According to a report from KAKE, 14-year-old Xavier Jones had no ride to his 8th-grade graduation ceremony, so he walked six miles to pick up his diploma.

“I was going to tell an adult, but my grandpa’s car was down. So I was just going to walk there,” he told KAKE.

Jones was graduating from Yeatman Middle School, but the ceremony was held at Harris-Stowe State University, a public historically-Black university in St. Louis.

“I looked up Harris-Stowe University on Google Maps and then I saw the walking distance and then I said I could probably make it,” Xavier told KAKE. “I wanted to walk across the stage.”

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Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

graduates

Have you ever thought, “Man, I sure wish someone would just hand me a check or at least some stock in a successful company”? The way rent, gas and everything (gestures broadly at the entire economy) is going right now, an unexpected windfall would be helpful to most people, but especially to high schoolers heading off to college or beginning their journeys as young adults.

That’s exactly what happened to the graduating class of Snellville, Georgia's Brookwood High School. The co-founder of Airbnb (and former graduate of Brookwood High), Joe Gebbia, surprised the graduating class of 2022 with shares in his company. Each graduate will receive 22 shares of Airbnb stock. Obviously the kids can’t immediately spend the stocks, though if they wanted to sell them for college supplies instead of hanging on to them and watching their value grow they could, I guess.

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Photo by Alisa Reutova on Unsplash

Skilled workers are in short supply and fewer young people are choosing trade school track.

It’s graduation season and high school seniors are enduring their last few days of classes before the last summer of their childhood. The summer after high school ends is special, with graduation parties and friends getting ready to take off around the country to pursue their next path. Though many are off to university to make their, or their parents', dream come true, not every high school grad wants to go off to a four-year college. And schools don’t always do a good job in informing high schoolers of their choices outside of college and the military.

The conversation around college seems to start earlier than it used to. My own children started being asked about college plans around sixth grade, and the pressure has only mounted with every passing year. When my eighth grader announced in a school meeting that he already had a college and degree path chosen, the teachers were outwardly excited and praised him for knowing what he wanted to do. It's an awful lot of pressure to put on 12-14-year-olds.

College is expensive and financially unattainable for many families. The looming expense of a college education can lead to parents putting pressure on their children to perform exceptionally to procure highly competitive scholarships.

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Jada Sayles/Twitter

Jada Sayles got both a newborn baby and her college degree.

You know what they say about the best laid plans? Well, it's true. And no one knows that better than Jada Sayles. On May 15, Sayles was all set to graduate from Dillard University, a historically Black university in New Orleans. Around 4:30 a.m., she realized that her plans were about to change in a big way. Instead of getting ready for her graduation, she was in labor and being admitted to the hospital.

"I thought I was gonna walk across the stage to get my degree, instead I got my baby," Sayles tweeted, along with a series of photos. "My sweet face decided to make his way on MY big day (now his). Shoutout to my university for still bringing my graduation and degree to me."

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