Johnson C. Smith's Class of 2020 is being honored in a big way after COVID-19 forced the university to reschedule this weekend's ceremony.
JCSU is one of 78 Historically Black Colleges and Universities participating in a virtual commencement ceremony with former President Barack Obama.
Ramoya Grandison moved from Kingston, Jamaica to attend Johnson C. Smith with one goal.
"The goal was to be valedictorian of my graduating class."
Her dreams came true.
Grandison is graduating at top of her class with a 4.0 GPA, receiving a dual degree in computer science and accounting. Sunday was supposed to be the day she walked across the stage but due to COVID-19 the University rescheduled commencement ceremonies to October.
Ramoya was devastated as her mother already had plans to fly from Jamaica to witness her big moment.
"Man when I tell you how many sacrifices she made to make sure, you know that I got here," said Grandison.
Until that moment, Grandison will celebrate virtual style.
Although she's disappointed it didn't all work out as planned, she says she's excited to hear from the former president.
RELATED: CMS makes recommendation for Class of 2020 seniors, in-person celebrations planned for fall
Saturday during a televised event, JCSU's Class of 2020 will join more than 70 historically black colleges and universities and will be honored during a National HBCU Commencement Celebration, with keynote speaker former President Barack Obama.
"I don' think there's anyone better to do it than him. I feel like his path reflects you know a lot of what us minorities have to go through to get through college. I think it's going to be like a pretty fun event, I'm glad they did that," said Grandison.
The ceremony will air virtually at 2 p.m., CLICK HERE, and at 8 p.m. on NBC.
