Twins often graduate from high school on the same day. Sometimes, a younger sibling will complete elementary school as an elder brother or sister finishes middle school or high school. But for two Boulder Creek sisters and their mother, this spring was a graduation bonanza, as all three joined the Class of 2010.
“It meant a lot of activity,” Mitsuno Baurmeister said. “We were all just really proud of finishing and proud of our accomplishments. It’s really special to graduate in the same year as my daughters.”
Baurmeister’s is a story of success.
The 45-year-old Boulder Creek resident graduated from San Jose State University in May with her bachelor of arts in human resources management.
She earned her degree 27 years after she started her undergraduate work in Oklahoma. At the time, she put aside her dreams of higher education to marry and start a family. After several years and the birth of her two daughters, she went to work as a human resources professional.
But her urge to learn never ceased, and she returned to school to further her career. In 2003, she earned an associate degree from Foothill College before transferring to San Jose State. In May, after 3½ years of night and online classes, she has completed her bachelor’s degree and is now working on a master’s at Penn State University through online classes.
“It definitely seemed like it was a struggle, but she pulled through,” said her 19-year-old daughter, Celestine Glover, who graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High school this month. For Glover, a special-education student who will attend Cabrillo College in the fall, commencement marked the beginning of her career search.
“I’m hoping to get into a law enforcement class and a fireman class,” she said.
The teenager has already completed an internship with the Boulder Creek Fire Protection District.
Adding to the family’s graduation celebration was Celestine’s elder sister, Jessica Glover, a 23-year-old who earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, magna cum laude, from University of California, Santa Cruz, this spring.
A 2004 San Lorenzo Valley High School alumna, Jessica Glover is now at the Cornell Summer Mathematics Institute to prepare for doctoral work in mathematics, which she will undertake at the University of Utah on a full-ride scholarship.
“The ironic synergy of this summer’s graduation ceremonies symbolizes, to me, a new beginning — a new chapter of our lives,” Glover wrote in an e-mail from the East Coast. “We’ve grown so much, not only as individuals, but as a family. Getting to where we are today took a lot of sacrifice on each of our parts, and we definitely hurt and disappointed one another along the way.”
She credits the support of her stepfather, Ken Baurmeister, as a driving force in helping the trio graduate.
And she is taking a lesson from her mother’s hard work as she begins her pursuit of her doctorate.
“She never gave up after all those years of pursuing something she knew would take a long time and a lot of hard work to achieve,” Glover said. “That is truly something to be admired.”
The family celebrated all three graduations with one big party at home in Boulder Creek on June 12.
