Graduation Day!

This morning at breakfast, Kathy said: "There is someone in the street wearing a graduation gown!"  And there was.  He was being photographed by his friend.  It was fun to watch because he was striking a whole bunch of interesting and fun poses.  So I grabbed my camera and went down to say "hello."  I asked if I could take some photographs of the graduate being photographed, and he said "sure."  His name is Joseph and his story is amazing.  I asked him about the sash around his neck, which says "EOP" and"CSUN".

He said that he applied for and was accepted into a program called "Educational Opportunity Program" which provides admission, academic and financial support services to historically underserved students throughout California.  So Joseph was accepted in the program, and will graduate from California State University, Northridge!  He came over to his friend's house to have him take some photographs to celebrate his graduation.

Here is a nice portrait of him.  He is such a friendly guy and we had a nice conversation after I took these photographs.  He is very outgoing, and is smart and I liked him immediately.  I asked him about the printing on top of his mortarboard, and he showed it to me.  How powerful is this message!

Meeting Joseph this morning was really special, and he made my day!  Congratulations to Joseph for all the hard work and dedication!  I think he will do really well as he goes out in the world after graduation.