"The promise of flowering is what graduation is all about"

On a spring day filled with promise, 232 students graduate from Mount Mary University

In her address, the provincial leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame refeflected upon the words of Blessed Mother Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, foundress of the religious order:

"All the works of God proceed slowly and in pain; but then, their roots are the sturdier and their flowering the lovelier."

Connecting this to students' studies to this point and their life's work yet to be realized, S. Mary Ann Owens, SSND, continued:

"The promise of flowering is what graduation is all about."

A total of 232 students graduated from Mount Mary University on Saturday, May 13, 2017. This total consists of 119 undergraduate, 23 certificate, 79 graduate and 11 doctoral degrees.

To view a roundup of this year's highlights, visit mtmary.edu/graduation. You can keep up-to-date with photos and coverage of the 2017 Spring Commencement by following @mountmary. Be part of the conversation #mountmarygrad.

Student surprises mom with early Mother’s Day gift

Serena Majeski works full-time in the financial field at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She and her husband, Mark, have five grown children. She has been working to complete her business administration degree on and off for seven years.

Last fall, she made the decision to finally finish her degree. So she attended seven accelerated classes this year to achieve her goal.

She persevered nights, weekends and online, but she never told one very important person about her race to the finish line.

Her mother, Judy Reinhold, thought that Serena wouldn't be graduating until 2020. So Serena set up an elaborate plan to surprise her mother on Commencement day.

While Judy thought she was coming to campus for an early Mother's Day brunch, instead she saw Serena stand before the Mount Mary community, family and friends to deliver the student address. This feature story includes a slideshow of Commencement 2017.