COMMENCEMENT
A PERFECT 10
If you study numerology, "10" resonates energies of leadership,
confidence, independence and determination. All characteristics were
clearly evident during the 10th Charlotte Campus commencement
exercises. Thousands of friends and family watched as proud graduates
accepted their diplomas, energized for a new beginning.
And for one — a new smile.
Twenty-one-year-old Madison Merrifield had been waiting for this
moment for more than 10 years. When she was just eight, she was
diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma of the left maxilla. She had tumors
in her left sinus and jaw. Madison endured chemotherapy, radiation
and surgeries that took all the bone from under her left eye, cheek and
maxillary sinus, so she lost her teeth on the left side of her mouth.
Doctors took part of her lower leg bone and veins from her neck to place
in her upper jaw. She will eventually receive dental implants, but for now,
what she calls her temporary teeth will be just fine.
It was just 25 days since her surgery when graduation day arrived. She
walked across the Time Warner Cable Arena stage, clutched her diploma
and turned to the face the camera — with a big, new smile on her face.
"Commencement was such a surreal moment for me, but having teeth
and a new smile made it even better," she exclaims. "My JWU family has
made such an impact on me, and to have their support through this
whole process [of surgery and recovery] has been so encouraging. I was
so grateful to be surrounded by all my JWU friends at commencement.
I wouldn't have had it any other way!"
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