NJ father and son graduate college together
INSIDE EDITION - A New Jersey father and son graduated college together on Friday – the first to do so in their family.
The pair, Benjamin Jeanty, 27, and his dad, Duvinson Jeanty, 63, graduated from William Patterson University after a long journey for both of them.
“It was really emotional. Just being with him and getting our education together, graduating with him was an indescribable feeling,” Benjamin told InsideEdition.com.
Benjamin first started attending Rutgers University in 2008 after graduating high school but stopped going and took on a full-time job.
Benjamin’s father emigrated to the U.S. from Haiti in 1983 and hadn’t gotten a high school diploma. But he eventually made the decision to get his education and by 2007, he began taking classes to get his associate’s degree.
“He was taking one class at a time because he was working a full-time job and taking care of my grandmother,” Benjamin said.
In 2013, Duvinson graduated with his associate’s degree and retired, deciding to go back to school full time and get a bachelor’s degree.
Benjamin said seeing his dad work hard to get his education eventually inspired him to go back to school himself.
The father and son ended up going to the same school because it’s close to their home,
Benjamin said.