Mother and daughter duo to graduate together at Penn State University

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (WTAJ) — Penn State’s 2024 graduation on May 3 is bringing the Gibson family together, but in a different way than you may think.

Renee Gibson is set to graduate with a degree in Social Sciences, and Clare Gibson is graduating with a degree in Meteorology. The twist: They are mother and daughter.

Renee originally began studying at Penn State right after high school but eventually dropped out. After years of working and starting a family of her own, Renee returned to Penn State to finish her degree. She did not plan on graduating with Clare, but when she found out, she made sure to clear it with Clare.

“She’s like, ‘Is this okay?’ I could push it back,” Clare said. “I thought it would be super fun, like double the celebration because there’s two of us graduating.”

While the two never had a class together, they did take some of the same classes. This led Clare to be in a unique position to help her mom with classes.

“She probably got a kick out of, you know, tutoring her mom,” Renee said.

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Being able to graduate with her daughter will make the already important day even more special.

“It’s going to be a lot that day. I think it’s going to be happy,” Renee said.

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