Lebanon Couple Walk Across Commencement Stage Together

Story and photo's submitted by Siobhan Lopez of Southern New Hampshire University

LEBANON, OH --Watch the heartwarming story of a Warren County couple who celebrated another one of life’s major milestones together: graduating from college.

Justin Smith, 40, of Lebanon, OH made the first step toward earning his degree back in 2016 when his wife, Emily, 39, urged him give college a try. Working full-time, Justin enrolled online at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and balanced his workload by taking one class at a time. 

Over the course of Justin’s eight-year journey to his degree, Emily joined him – enrolling at SNHU to pursue her own goals.Justin earned his BS in Cybersecurity, and Emily her BS in Health Sciences. They are both excited for new professional opportunities and a bit of time back for themselves and each other after this long rewarding journey.

Justin said, “It is an honor to be graduating, an honor that is made that much more special for both me and Emily by sharing the experience with the one we love the most.”

They knew they wanted to make the journey to New Hampshire to cross the Commencement stage the same way they do most things in life – together and cheering each other on every step of the way.

More News from Lebanon

• Landsman Introduces Bill to Deliver Financial Relief to Millions of Renters Greg Landsman (OH-01) introduced commonsense legislation to provide financial relief to millions of American renters.
• Warren County Makes Top 10 List In Ohio State Highway Patrol Thanksgiving Holiday Report Warren County saw higher incident rates on its roads over the Thanksgiving Holiday than 79 of Ohio's 88 counties