Mother-daughter duo receiving UW-Green Bay degrees

GREEN BAY — A mother and daughter duo from Kimberly will be two of more than 350 graduates receiving diplomas at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 20.

Nancy Young, 48, and her daughter, Michelle, 22, will share the stage as both will earn UW-Green Bay bachelor’s degrees.

Nancy, an Adult Degree student, will receive a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, and Michelle, a traditional student, in Communication with public relations and electronic media as areas of emphasis.

This will be only the second known time in school history that a parent and child have graduated at the same time.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Michelle said. “I know some people would have found it awkward, but I found it really amusing. We’ve shared textbooks on two occasions. I even helped her out with the same classes that she’s taken after me.”

Nancy said it was great having an educational experience with her daughter.

“It was an opportunity for us to be peers, in a way, and do sharing,” she said. “We didn’t reverse roles. We just became helpers to each other.”

As if going to college together weren’t enough, both landed jobs as customer care representatives for Humana Insurance. But there is some separation. Nancy will work out of the De Pere office and Michelle in a Green Bay office.

“It’s a scary time with the economy, but we’ve both been blessed enough to get great jobs,” Michelle said. “We’re excited about it and looking forward to it.”

The Fall 2008 Commencement ceremony will be held inside the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, on the UW-Green Bay campus. The ceremony starts at 11:30 a.m.

A record number for December graduates (358) will receive diplomas at the end of this academic semester.

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