At 11 a.m., it became official. I graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with my Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Public Health Nursing Leadership. After three years of distance learning and countless hours of e-mails, papers, revisions and corrections, and a three-hour drive north with my parents, it lasted about 30 seconds. I walked up on stage, my name was called, a hood was placed over my head and a diploma cover was handed to me. Years of work culminated in less than a minute.

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