This College Student's Stepdad Didn't Believe He'd Graduate - But Look At Him Now

It’s graduation season and college students all over are looking for inspiration to transition into adulthood. But for Eastern Michigan University graduate, Daivon Reeder, his words inspired thousands.

Reeder posted a photo of himself in cap and gown, with a caption about the irony of him making in to this point.

“My step dad told me it was pointless to go to orientation, I wasn’t going to graduate,” he said. “Four years later he in jail & I’m well….” The post currently has 601k likes and 148k retweets, with comments congratulating him and sharing similar stories. 

“When I tweeted it I was just looking at my picture and the emotion was kind of ironic,” he told CNN affiliate WXYZ. “I was saying because of two situations we’re two black statistics and he’s on the bad statistic on the negative in jail and I’m on the good statistic on the black man who just graduated college.”

According to the American Council on Education, as of 2010, there were almost 500,000 more Black men enrolled in postsecondary education than in prison or jail.

Congratulations to Reeder!