29 receive their diploma at GED ceremony
BUTLER TWP — High school graduation is a milestone, sure, but not every student makes it all the way.
For those people who do not, oftentimes a GED is the way to go.
The sixth annual Butler County GED graduation ceremony took place at the Butler County Community College on Thursday, and gave 29 people the chance to have a diploma.
Steven Graham, 27, and Melissa Graham, 23, a married couple from Saxonburg, were graduating together.
Melissa Graham dropped out of high school and had a son several years ago. Four years ago, she began taking classes to get a diploma.
“I just wanted to feel better about myself and accomplish this in life,” she said.
After this, she said she hopes to attend college and study to be a veterinary technician.
Steven Graham said he was going for the GED to better care for his family. He also wanted to show his son that completing school is a good thing.
His goal is simple now.
“Just go find a good job,” he said.
Brion Howard, 43, of Butler started working on his GED in 2006, but stopped and did not continue until recently.
Like most of the graduates, he was happy to get the diploma that he did not get when he was younger.
“(I was) young and dumb, didn't think I needed it,” Howard said.
He decided to go for it in 2005 because most jobs require a high school diploma.
Howard said he will focus on getting a better job, but also may take additional classes at BC3.
Tracy Neupert, 39, of Herman decided to go complete her GED because she lost her job.
“It's just something I've been wanting to do,” Neupert said.
She never graduated from high school because she had a child in 11th grade and never went back. Now that her children are older, her daughter recently graduated from college and her son is attending college, she decided it was time to finish.
“I guess me losing my job was in my favor,” Neupert said.Robert Osterrieder, 22, of Center Township was excited to finally accomplish this goal.“This has been a long time coming. This is a dream of mine,” Osterrieder said. “I'll be able to look back and reminisce about it.”When he was younger, he moved around a lot because his father was in the U.S. Navy. It was getting difficult for him to go from school to school. He tried home schooling for a while, but that was not working out either.Osterrieder has been working at a boxing gym where court adjudicated youths practice. Recently, he was told that he needed to get his diploma to continue.He is enrolled at BC3 for the fall semester and will study psychology.Robin Cosme, 44, of Valencia also was excited.“I didn't think it would ever happen, but it did,” Cosme said.She originally dropped out of high school and had a family. Now that her two daughters have graduated from college, she said she was ready.“I just figured it was time,” Cosme said.Thanks to completing her GED, she has a job at Concordia in Cranberry Township.She is proud to finally have a diploma.“I already have it hanging on my wall,” Cosme said.Cindie Duell, 50, of Sarver actually graduated from high school back in 1978.However, the high school that she graduated from in Carlsbad, Calif., did not put any diplomas before 1979 on its digital records.When she accepted a job in April, the company called the high school to confirm that she graduated, but the high school had lost her diploma. Even with several jobs and secondary education under her belt, the company still wanted proof of completing high school.Despite having completed a diploma, she still had to study for the GED test. The math portion, she said, was difficult.“But that's OK. Life throws curve balls,” Duell said.
