Father graduates at the same time as his son and daughter to earn master’s degree: "Keep going..."
A father graduated at the same time as his son and daughter to earn a master's degree last Thursday. Commondre Cole, his son Ja’Coby Cole, and his daughter Iesha Gully graduated from a branch of Mississippi State University. They each earned a master's degree in education among the 153 graduates at MSU-Meridian's spring commencement, reports FOX 13. Commondre's mother, Mary, posted a video of her son and grandkids getting their degrees on Facebook.
She wrote in the caption, "They're all mine! They MASTERED it!"
In the Meridian Public School District, Commondre Cole teaches at Northwest Middle School and Ja'Coby Cole teaches at Oakland Heights Elementary. Gully is a teacher in the Lauderdale County School District at Northeast Elementary.
At MSU-Meridian’s commencement today, father Commondre Cole, his daughter Lesha Gully and his son Ja’Coby Cole all graduated with their Master of Arts in Teaching, Secondary Teacher Alternate Route degrees. MSU supports the program’s aim of preparing more qualified educators. pic.twitter.com/q79Au0v7uW
— Sid Salter (@sidsalter) May 12, 2022
Ja'Coby spoke to WTOK-TV, "I wouldn’t say it was planned because I started out playing sports. I never thought I’d become a teacher just right away. I knew I’d have to have a backup plan so I thought about my mom, my dad’s and my sister’s footsteps." He added, "They’re all educators and I thought it’d be best for me to follow their footsteps."
Iesha said, "This is a big accomplishment for our family. Just to keep driving and keep going forward and to lead by example and to show my younger siblings and the rest of my family that we can do it. We started strong and we finish strong."
Commondre Cole said, "Really my wife, she already has her specialist. She said you might as well go back to school with the kids. I decided to go back with them and we accomplished this and we’re all walking together."
“We accomplished this, and we’re all walking together.”
— Mississippi State Newsroom (@msstate_news) May 16, 2022
@WTOKTV covered MSU Meridian’s recent commencement, which included three family members graduating together. Read the story here: https://t.co/GZlLbl1QSr.
Mary shared videos of the ceremony with pictures of her son and grandchildren. Many people congratulated them in the comments. One person wrote, "This is So awesome Mary Cole ! I know you're proud." Another wrote, "Go ahead on young man proud of you." A third person said, "I saw them on the news this morning. Excellent and outstanding."
Commandre Cole also shared some pictures from the ceremony. He wrote in the caption, "Three down one more to go… It was a blessing to see this day… … Big congrats Commondre LaShawn Cole Jr. daddy is proud of you." His friends and family also congratulated him in the comments.