Two Graduations, Twenty Years Apart
June is a season of farewells—and new beginnings.
A few days ago, I attended my eldest daughter’s university graduation. As I watched her walk across the stage in her academic gown, graduating with High Distinction, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
It wasn’t just her graduation.
In many ways, it felt like the graduation of another chapter in my own life.
She graduated from Carleton University—the very same university where I earned my PhD twenty years ago.
The difference is that twenty years ago, I stood at that graduation ceremony as a young mother, while she was still in my arms.
I completed my doctoral dissertation and defended my thesis during my pregnancy. Before she was even born, she had already formed a special connection with Carleton University.
Back then, life was a constant balancing act.
I was immersed in research, writing my dissertation, caring for my family, and planning for the future. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day, and it always felt as though there was more left to accomplish.
Then, in what feels like the blink of an eye, the baby I once carried has returned to the very same campus—this time wearing her own graduation gown.
Twenty years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
As I walked on campus, it felt as though two moments in time had quietly overlapped.
One belonged to the young woman I used to be.
The other belonged to the remarkable young woman standing before me today.
The campus was the same.
The familiar buildings were unchanged.
Even the ceremony felt familiar.
Yet two decades of life had unfolded between those two graduations.
I was reminded of a quote often attributed to Bill Gates:
“Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten years.”
How true that is.
We often expect dramatic change within a single year. We become anxious, impatient, and eager to see immediate results.
But when we look back over the course of a lifetime, the most meaningful transformations almost always happen over much longer stretches of time.
I think the quote could be extended:
We underestimate even more what twenty years can create.
Twenty years ago, I could never have imagined that the little girl accompanying me through my PhD journey would one day stand on the same stage to receive her own degree.
Nor could I have imagined that I would grow from a newly graduated researcher into an entrepreneur, a community builder, and someone who would embrace so many unexpected challenges and opportunities for growth.
Some of my dreams from twenty years ago came true.
Some evolved into something different.
Others quietly gave way to entirely new dreams.
Perhaps that is simply how life unfolds.
Life is not a hundred-meter sprint.
It is much more like a marathon—or perhaps even a relay race.
The seeds we plant today may not bear fruit tomorrow. But if we continue to nurture them with patience and perseverance, time has a remarkable way of rewarding our efforts.
I am incredibly proud of my daughter.
Yet beyond the diploma itself, what fills me with the greatest joy is seeing the person she has become—independent, confident, thoughtful, and compassionate.
A degree marks the completion of one stage of life.
Growing as a person is a lifelong journey.
Beyond the university gates, she will encounter challenges, choices, uncertainties, and opportunities that no classroom can fully prepare her for.
Those experiences will shape the life she is destined to build.
As a mother, I have come to realize that the greatest gift we can give our children is not a carefully designed life plan.
It is the courage to face life on their own.
Graduation is never the destination.
It is simply the beginning of another journey.
And for me, attending this ceremony was also a gentle reminder not to become discouraged by the challenges of today.
Stretch your perspective.
Look beyond the next year.
Look ten years ahead.
Look twenty years ahead.
The things that matter most in life almost always require time to grow.
Twenty years ago, I attended my own graduation while carrying my daughter.
Twenty years later, I attended hers by her side.
Time may have taken away our youth.
But it has given us something far more precious:
Growth.
And perhaps that is the greatest gift that time can ever offer.
