I am a believer in numbers and I pay attention to blessings and omens.

I listen to speeches given by great men and women.

I may not know what things mean as they are happening but as life goes on,

the puzzle pieces connect smoothly.

On the 24th of May this year I graduated from The College of New Rochelle with my Masters of Science in Education.

The commencement speaker was ABC news anchor, Robin Roberts. The same person I met at Fordham University in 2009  a few months before I graduated from there. Listening to the same person give a speech during important moments in my life, meant something to me and still means something even though I am not exactly sure.

Never forget the feeling that you are feeling right now,she told the 109th graduation class.  The auditorium was quite but I could feel excitement in my bones. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t cry. I kept thinking about my parents and the many roads I’ve traveled and still was traveling.

She continued, Proximity is power, you can wish, hope and pray all you want but you have to put yourself in the position to go forward…Put yourself in the position for good things to happen to you…dream big and focus small. She found ways to weave her personal testimony throughout her speech allowing the graduates and their families to connect to her even though she was high on a pedestal. She spoke of her parents and the hard road they had to travel growing up in an unkind south.

When fear knocks and it will, let faith answer the door! Never question or doubt God’s plans for you, even when you can’t see his hand. 

She concluded her speech and was given her honoree degree.

The graduates were given their degrees.

All went home with new meaning.