It was fifth time lucky for Sarah Kerby’s graduation ceremony and it bought tears to her eyes.
Having just completed her master’s degree in professional practice, Sarah missed her official graduation, instead spending the time with her young son Willy, as he undergoes chemotherapy in his cancer battle.
It’s not the first time she missed a graduation, in fact, Sarah says the surprise ceremony on Friday was her fifth attempt at graduating.
Sarah was described as an inspiration by her friends and family who gathered to celebrate her success at the Family Tree sculpture on Para Para Rd on Friday, which organiser Judene Edgar described as a fitting location.
Judene says all Sarah knew was that she was organising something to mark the occasion of her completing her masters.
What Sarah walked into was friends and family gathered together with balloon garlands, a singer and members of a pipe-band to play her in.
“It meant a lot to finally wear regalia and celebrate getting my qualifications. I did them as a sole parent and am one of the first in my family to get university qualified, so it was a big deal to me, and I hope I can encourage others to study too.
Friend and colleague Rachel Boyack kicked off the ceremony describing Sarah as simply “remarkable”.
“She’s worked really hard. It’s remarkable that while she’s had her young son in hospital, she’s managed to complete her masters. It’s been a really tough year for her so it’s just a nice opportunity for friends and family to celebrate her,” Rachel says.
Rachel says Sarah has a huge heart for people.
“Even when things are tough for her, she’ll still send chocolates to someone whose had a tough day. She goes the extra mile.”
One of Sarah’s accomplishments has been setting up local charity Bellyful.
“Sarah is such an amazing person who set up a charity to help people who need support when they have a new baby or a sick child and none of us ever thought that actually we would need to give that same support to Sarah,” Rachel says.
Sarah says she was overwhelmed but incredibly humbled by the gesture.
“It was incredibly humbling to see the lengths Judene and others had gone to to show up and awhi (surround) me. I had no idea what they had planned, and I never would have expected so many people from so many walks of my life would show up.”
Steve Henry, who mentored Sarah through her degree, says it was a great privilege to guide Sarah through her masters degree.
“The things that stick out to me is your dedication and selflessness, you haven’t just done this for you, you’ve done this to build your own capability so that it can make a difference to others,” he told her.
Steve then presented Sarah with a rainbow graduation robe.
Sarah says she is completely in awe of the lengths her friends went to, and full of gratitude.
