Today May 8, 2026, I officially receive my M.Ed. from East Stroudsburg University. I earned my Bachelor’s degree from Holy Family University right after high school many years ago. As I grew in my career in Educational Technology, I decided it was important to enhance those skills in 2023. My daughter Jackie is also graduating this year.

This experience was filled with many trials. I worked on projects many nights and weekends while also maintaining my full time job and caring for my family. It was worth all of the work and I loved every minute of the learning process. I especially enjoyed the projects we worked on. The more creativity they involved, the more I enjoyed it. You can check out my work here.

Interestingly, I was just diagnosed this year with Inattentive ADHD. This explains so much of my entire life. But your mindset is everything. As usual, I pushed through my distractions, fatigue, and anxiety and now I have earned my M.Ed. This goes to show – you can reach your goals. No matter what. The road might be wrangled with twists and turns, roller coaster rides, and all-out diversion. As Fr. Mike Schmitz says in his podcast The Bible in a Year, “God writes straight with crooked lines.” The fact I wasn’t aware of my diagnosis for so long, while difficult, I feel helped me in some ways. I convinced myself there is a way to do this, I just needed to figure out how.

While today is huge for me, I chose not to walk at graduation. I know what many are thinking. Why not? This is a big deal for every graduate! However, as I mentioned, my daughter Jackie is graduating tomorrow with her Bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology. She worked so hard for this. In high school she was diagnosed with Specific Learning Disability likely related to her medical issues. You can read more on the children’s book I wrote about her story here and here. Despite everything, she did not let her struggles stop her either. She had a goal and tomorrow after constant hard work, studying, restudying, and researching, she will reach it. It is for this reason that I am stepping back and letting her enjoy the entire experience. She earned it.

Congratulations to all the graduates!