Salina Journal News: Promise is matter of degrees

Promise is matter of degrees

5/29/2009

Promise is matter of degrees

By MICHAEL STRAND

Salina Journal

Jennifer Vignery had made a promise.

Last year, her son had earned his high school diploma through the Salina Adult Education Center's program for new soldiers.

Before that, Vignery told those gathered for the school's graduation ceremony Thursday night, he and his mother had made a pact that if he graduated, she'd earn her diploma, as well.

"The night he graduated, he said, 'You've got to do it now, Mom,' " said Vignery, who earned her diploma in February and was the keynote speaker at SAEC's fifth annual graduation ceremony.

"The day he left for basic training, I enrolled in SAEC," she said. "That was last fall, and now, here I am."

In giving the audience "a peek at the journey that led me to SAEC," Vignery said many in her family hadn't made it through high school the first time, including a daughter who quit school at 17 but had earned her GED in Georgia in January with the state's fifth-highest score.

And an uncle had also gone back to earn his GED years ago and now holds three associate degrees; Vignery's mother, also, went back to school for her diploma, and now, at 64, is working on her second college degree.

"When I was 17, I knew everything," Vignery said. "I knew I didn't need a high school diploma ... 26 years later, I was worried I wouldn't be able to do it.

"I regretted quitting school for many years," she continued, "But I was also worried about failure."

But with hard work, and the "great support" of SAEC's staff, Vignery was ready to take her tests in just a few short months.

"I was so proud of myself -- am so proud of myself," she said, adding she's not finished, and plans to go on to either Salina Area Technical College or Brown Mackie College -- Salina to continue her education.

And she urged everyone in the audience to take those first steps, too.

"If there are any of you tonight saying to yourselves, 'I wish I'd stayed in school,' you still can go back," she said. "Never let anyone tell you it's too late, or you're too old -- it's never too late, and you're never too old."

n Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.