It only took 16 years!

Well, he finally did it! A couple weeks ago Mark officially graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors Degree in Business from the Marriott School of Management. I say finally because technically it did take him about 16 years...talk about persistence! It's a long story but I'll give you the short version in bullet points (the way I like long stories :))

• Mark goes to Ricks college (93-94)
• Serves a mission in Washington D.C. (94-96)
• Mark returns to Ricks College (97-98)
• Moves to Provo to attend BYU night school because he's applied 4 times and been DENIED acceptance as a regular day student (Fall 98)
• 3 days later Mark returns to San Diego to work and attend classes at a local college (98)
• Mark goes back to Ricks college (Winter 99)
• Back to Utah to attend the University of Utah (99-00)
• Mark decides to give BYU night school another try (00-01) Note: He was advised from guidance counselors that he could complete all the course work via night school and receive his degree. Half way through this year he was then told that he couldn't receive a degree attending just night classes unless he enrolled in this special 'general studies program' which he then did.
• Mark leaves BYU to return to San Diego with 1 online class left to complete and 1 class that needed a re-take. The thought was that he could just finish those up quickly at home and find a job, etc.... He enrolled right away in STATISTICS 221.
• Mark gets a full time job in the City of Poway and is still working on STATS 221(03)
• Meets yours truly and gets married (04) Note: Mark does not disclose to wife that he technically has not received his degree yet :) It became more apparent a year or two into our marriage.
• Still working on STATS 221...(04-06)
• Has two more children and is still working on STATS 221 (06-08).
• Mark finishes STATS 221 and the rest of his requirements!!! (09)

I told you it was a long story! Now keep in mind during his college days he was working multiple jobs to pay for his tuition, rent, food, etc.. That's right he was definitely a self made man. For example at Ricks College he worked part time at Hogi Yogi, construction, installed carpet for a local company, and milked cows for the nearby dairy....ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! He also donated plasma on a regular basis to make ends meet. All of this on top of studying for his classes! You can see why he thought that finishing up a couple measly little on-line classes would be a breeze compared to what he's had to do in the past. Well...as you can see above, LIFE tends to get in the way and things never seem to turn out the way you plan.

Now for those of you that have been to a BYU graduation know that there are always two days of festivities. The first one is for everyone and there are always some great speakers. This year it was President Uchtdorf of the first presidency and Elder Russel M. Nelson of the quorum of the twelve so that was a real treat.

If you're going to go all the way to Utah you gotta have the standard BYU sign and cougar pictures above.

Mom, Dad and the graduate after day 1 of graduation

Back to my parents house for some celebrating. Now we're on day 2 for the graduation ceremonies. The first day we left the kids back at the grandparents house. The 2nd day of graduation is actually where they receive their degree and you get to hear their name called, etc.. I thought it was important for the kids to see their Dad receive his degree so they came with us. I had heard that these ceremonies can be pretty lengthy especially if the college if they are graduating from has a lot of people in them (Mark's is one of the biggest). Well...I was going in prepared for the worst....

As you can see we had DVD players, nintendos, snacks, etc.. Well, it worked for about the first 2 hours. About 3 hours into it Dylan was in tears because of sheer boredom and the little ones were in complete meltdown mode. Also, if you've ever been in the Marriott Center those seats are extremely uncomfortable and cramped! Of course Mark was about the 1,997 name of about 2,000 called but after 4 hours he finally had his moment of triumph! Sharing in the moment... C'mon, I helped a little...I nagged some, and tried to keep the kids away when he was doing homework:) A bunch of tired and very hungry little boys but very proud of their Daddy! We are all very proud of Mark and his accomplishment. He is a great example to our family of how hard work, persistence, dedication, and a willingness to never give up will always pay off in the end. I'm grateful that our children will always know how important it is to finish what you start and that a good education was a priority to their Father.

Now.... on to his Masters Degree :). Hey you know me....always looking for the next goal :) CONGRATULATIONS MARK!