Graduating from high school is a pretty big moment in the lives of students as it signifies that they are now ready for the next step in life, which more often than not is either college or university. This is why attending the graduation ceremony is a big deal for both parents and students.
Unfortunately in the case of high school student Cynthia Pettway, this almost didn’t happen as she was hospitalized a week before her ceremony. However thankfully thanks to a loan by USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital, she managed to attend her graduation ceremony virtually with the use of a remote controlled iPad robot, made by Double Robotics.
Speaking to WKRG, Stephanie Maddox of the Mobile County Public School System said, “She has worked very hard to get here and was devastated… So when we introduced this idea to her… Took us a little while to convince her that although she couldn’t be here physically, she could be here remotely… And after that she got on board and was very excited about it.”
In the video above you can see Cynthia dressed in her graduation robes on the screen of the iPad as it rolled forward to collect her diploma. According to Cynthia, the ceremony was particularly important to her as she was her grandmother’s first grandchild to “walk this stage”, and so she knew that she had to, even if it meant “rolling” across it virtually instead.