A Nebraska graduate’s parents were extremely proud of his academic achievements, so they just had to tell the world – literally!
Michelle and Roosevelt Boyland from Bellevue, Nebraska, came up with a brilliant way to celebrate their son when he graduated from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Since Dr. Ryan Boyland didn’t plan to make a big deal out of his success, his parents decided to step in.
“I remember asking him about a party and I’m like, ‘We need to celebrate you,’ and him not wanting that. I’m like, ‘What? No,” said Michelle, according to KETV. “He said he hadn’t done anything. I’m like, ‘What! Yes, you have. You’ve done more than a lot of people.'”
Following that conversation, Ryan’s mom and dad rented a billboard in their neighborhood announcing his achievement. The billboard reads, “Congratulations Doctor Ryan Boyland” and includes his graduation year and the name of his school. In addition, it also displays a photo of the graduate.
“Our church is right down the street,” explained Michelle. “His high school is right down the street. It’ll be 10 years this month for him since he graduated high school. I thought this would be the perfect spot for it.”
Meanwhile, it seems Ryan has mixed feelings about the billboard.
“I mean, I don’t like seeing my face at like 20 feet,” he said, laughing.
However, the Boylands had two reasons for their very public graduation gift. Firstly, they wanted to congratulate their son. Secondly, they wanted to inspire others to follow in his footsteps.
“Ryan was the second Black valedictorian of his high school. His brother was the first,” Roosevelt said. “This is a good spot to continue to motivate his peers and young people coming up to let them know that they can aspire to do great things.”
Similarly, Dr. Ryan Boyland said, “You can’t be what you can’t see. Hopefully, by providing an example for other people to motivate themselves to get into health care, and realize they can get into health care and be a doctor. I think that’s very important.”
Watch Michelle and Roosevelt Boyland celebrate their son on a billboard in the video below. Don’t forget to share!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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