Ursula Taylor says she clung to her goal of earning a college degree so that she could prove to her two children that they could achieve anything.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published May 12, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - It had all the markings of a typical graduation ceremony. Flash bulbs speckled the audience as proud relatives and neighbors snapped photos. Babies rocked in mothers' arms - some cried with frustrated pink faces. Cheers went up as, one by one, names were called over the loud speaker.
But for one 32-year-old woman waiting quietly in her cap and gown, the walk to get her associate's degree from Pasco-Hernando Community College on Tuesday night was much more than ceremony, pomp and circumstance.
"I think it's a point of survival," said Pat Laue, a long-time friend of Ursula Taylor, one of about 290 participating in the spring commencement. "She feels she's really worked hard. It's like she's won the battle."
After all, Taylor was never supposed to be here. At least, not if she'd paid any attention at all to anyone who knows anything about odds. She was pregnant in her eighth-grade graduation photo. When she was a teen, she began her school days by dropping off her first-born daughter at a day care. When she graduated from high school in 1991, she counted it as a victory over teen dropout statistics.
So when Taylor resolved in 2002 to pursue her college degree after an 11-year hiatus from school, she was determined not to allow anything to block her success.
Not lupus, the autoimmune disease that she discovered had taken over her body during her second semester at PHCC. Not antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, the blood clotting condition that doctors warned could kill her if not treated. And not the seizures that began that second semester, racking her body and worrying her family.
"There were a few times that I said to myself, "I just want to stop," the Brooksville resident said before her graduation. "But then, I come home, and I look at my children and I say, they're the ones I'm doing it for. I want to show them that you can achieve anything you want to achieve, no matter what. You never say the words, "I can't.' "
Taylor's children, Heather, 16, and Dominic, 12, were among the relatives cheering on graduates Tuesday night. So were some of the PHCC professors who Taylor said made her success possible.
Now, she said, she's on to Saint Leo University to get her degree in criminal psychology. She is determined that her health will not be an obstacle.
For 32 years, PHCC has been helping adults of all ages realize and sometimes rekindle life goals that often get derailed with time and circumstance.
"Some of you have overcome unimaginable odds to be here," PHCC Board of Trustees President John Church said, honoring the graduates.
But most don't do it without the faith, love and support of people who love them, student speaker Jason Ali said, prompting his fellow graduates to applaud their loved ones.
The ceremony was held for the first time at the campus of River Ridge High/Middle School in New Port Richey in order to accommodate as many relatives as students wanted to invite. Over the years, PHCC has granted degrees to more than 15,000 people, President Robert Judson said.
Taylor was thankful for the help of PHCC's professors, people like Richard Downing, whose patience working with her through a tough English Composition paper meant the difference between success and failure, she said.
"He sat with me time and time again," Taylor said. "I thank God for the professors at PHCC."
