By B.C. Manion
Troy Button Jr. strode across the stage to accept his diploma from Pasco-Hernando Community College, and less than a minute later, his mother, Laura Button walked across the stage to get her diploma, too.
The mother and son took very different paths to their degrees.
The son is on a fast track. He started taking college classes as a sophomore at Sunlake High.
The mother, on the other hand, completed requirements for the Associate of Arts degree that she began pursuing more than two decades ago.
Life intervened, she explained. “You meet people,’’ she said, nodding to her husband, Troy Button Sr. “You get married, you know. You have kids.”
When her son announced that he would be taking dual enrollment courses at Sunlake, Laura got busy. She was determined that he would not get his degree ahead of her.
Her goal was to complete her requirements so that she could get her associate’s on the same day as her son.
When it came time to cross the stage during the commencement exercise on the afternoon of May 4, she told her son to go first. She wanted the event to be about him, not her, she said.
The two graduates were among 375 who received diplomas or certificates during morning and afternoon ceremonies at PHCC’s campus in New Port Richey. All together, 830 people were eligible to participate, but most chose not to take part in the day’s festivities.
For those who took part in the afternoon ceremony, the place was packed with people clutching bouquets of flowers, clinging to balloons, shooting videotape and snapping photographs.
Laura said her son not only inspired her to finish the requirements for a degree, but also spurred her to perform well in her classes.
They had some classes together, including math, photography and an online science course. “He was competition,” Laura said, adding, “We both got As.”
Both graduates said their family’s support helped them to attain their AA degree.
Laura said her husband played a huge role.
“He picked up all of the slack,” she said. He pitched in to make sure their other son, Tylor, got to school and that the 9-year-old did his homework.
Her husband also helped with laundry, cleaning and dinner, Laura said. “He just did it all.”
Troy Jr. feels lucky, too.
“If I were in any other family, I probably wouldn’t get the encouragement that I do,” he said.
For his part, Laura’s husband is proud of both graduates.
“It was fun watching them both go to school together,” he said.
“When Troy was in elementary school, he was kind of the class clown,” his father recalled.
Not anymore.
“He’s very serious about what he does. He’s very focused,” Troy Sr. said.
He’s also impressed with his wife. He praised her for “sticking with it.”
Tylor is proud, too.
“It was lots of hard work. It finally paid off,” he said.
Troy Jr. is unsure of where he’ll go to college, but he is certain about his career path: “I’m an aspiring filmmaker,” he said.
The reason he took college courses during high school was so that he could finish college earlier and get started on pursuing his dream.
He has broad interests when it comes to making films.
“I want to do all different kinds of genres, cover a whole variety of films. I want to do documentaries, action, comedies, horror,” he said.
Laura also intends to pursue a bachelor’s degree, but not on her son’s timetable.
After all, she does have her husband, children and a full-time job to consider.
And the family isn’t finished celebrating, either.
As if last week’s graduation wasn’t enough excitement, the family still has another graduation on their agenda.
On May 28, they’ll be heading to Sunlake High’s commencement ceremony.
He finished his requirements in December, but wants to mark the end of his high school years with his friends in Sunlake’s Class of 2011.
At that ceremony, Laura will be playing another role. She’ll be sitting with the rest of the family when her son crosses that stage to get his diploma.
