Rebecca Bowen and her daughter, Rachael Bowen
It is a typical occurrence to see family and friends attending a commencement ceremony, but family members participating in the same ceremony is somewhat unique; however, this is exactly the case for Rebecca Bowen and her daughter, Rachael Bowen. The mother-daughter duo is graduating together at the University of Central Arkansas on Friday, May 2.
“It just kind of worked out that Rachael and I get to graduate together and even from the same college, so that is just terribly exciting. We hoped it might happen, but we weren’t for sure,” Rebecca said. “We’ve had many obstacles along the way, and it’s just worked out that we are able to do this together.”
The Bowens will walk in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences ceremony at 9 a.m. Rebecca will earn a Bachelor of General Studies degree, and Rachael will earn a Bachelor of Arts in interior design.
“I think I’ve got the better of it because not only am I fulfilling this for myself, but I get to watch my kid graduate, and so there’ll be some tears over that, too,” Rebecca said.
Rebecca Bowen and Rachael Bowen receive congratulatory letters.
While the duo will march during the same ceremony, their educational journeys have been very different. Rachael attended courses in person, starting as a nursing student, so she is now finishing after six years of study. Rebecca started college years ago, but had to stop, so she attended UCA classes online.
Even with their different treks, they did manage to take one class together, a required course for Rachael but an elective for Rebecca: architectural history.
“I love telling people that my mom is a student at UCA. My whole class knows,” Rachael said. “It was kind of funny with the roles reversed. I was always like, ‘What homework do you have? What tests do you have?’”
And for Rebecca, “I couldn’t have passed the class without her,” she chuckled.
For both women, completing the degree together is more than just satisfying; it also fulfills a family legacy of earning a college degree.
Rebecca said, “My father was a professor at Ouachita Baptist, and my mother was an elementary librarian, and all my life, they would be, ‘I wish you’d go back to college. I wish you’d go back to college.’ They both passed away before I started at UCA.”
She plans to wear her father’s tassel from his cap and gown at commencement.
Once the commencement ceremony is over, they plan to take a few more photos and just enjoy the moment. Rebecca goes back to work in Little Rock, and Rachael starts a new career with Shine Interior Design Studio.
“So this has been a long time coming. And I am extremely excited, and I’m really excited to just go out into the workforce, honestly, because of what my professors have taught me,” Rachael said.
