Mother-daughter duo earn Master's degrees together at CAU

ATLANTA - It's almost time for a mother and daughter duo to turn their tassels. This weekend, the two will be graduating together with Master's degrees from Clark Atlanta University.

Stephanie Holloman-Curtis said she always wanted to show her kids they could do anything. That mission felt disrupted when she let life and motherhood get in the way of pursuing her higher education. She said it was her daughter, Trinity, who ultimately encouraged her to finally pursue her degree.

"I started college while she was in middle school," Stephanie told FOX 5. "Then it got hectic. And, I stopped."

But after years of making time for what's important to her, Stephanie earned a bachelor's in business administration.

"I wanted to get my bachelor's before [Trinity] gets hers. It's always been a race," she said. "I wanna do it so she can understand it can happen and it's possible."

She and her daughter didn't just stop at their first degrees, though. Both women doubled up. Stephanie will collect her master's in public administration as her daughter receives her master's in criminal justice.

"I'm 56, and my classmates are 19 and 20. But, they embraced the maturity," Stephanie said. "I embraced the youth, so I was hip."

That Clark Atlanta pride runs deep. Stephanie began working at the school in the late '90s.

"I felt at home and the culture was good for me," Stephanie said. "I was like ‘I’m gonna come back and go to school here, I wanna do this.'"

As a little girl, her daughter Trinity was the first to hold one of the school's pageant titles nearly 20 years ago.

"The very first pageant they had, she won," Stephanie said.

By Saturday evening, the duo will have tossed their caps into the air, ready to move on to their next goal.