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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 17, 2006 Mother and son, Marge and Matthew Bernard, will both 'walk' at the Southern Oregon University commencement. Photos by Sarah Hale | Daily Tidings Generations of graduations Mother and son to walk together at SOU commencement By Alan Panebaker Ashland Daily Tidings Graduation is a family affair for Matthew and Marge Bernard. IF YOU GO The 2006 Southern Oregon University commencement ceremony will start at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mountain Arena (Raider Stadium). A free bus to the commencement ceremony will run from the parking lot across from the Music Building on Mountain Avenue. Buses will run every 20 minutes starting at 7 a.m. The nursing and political science majors who are both receiving bachelor’s degrees today will walk in the ceremony together as mother and son. When 25-year-old Matthew and his mother, Marge, realized they were graduating at the same time, Matthew asked his mother if she would walk with him at commencement. She said yes. The mother and son pair are among the 1,104 people earning degrees today. Eight hundred and twenty-four students are earning bachelor’s degrees, and 227 will get master’s degrees from SOU this year. The past three school years, degree numbers fluctuated from 998 degrees in 2002-2003 to 1,105 in 2003-2004 and 1,015 last school year according to SOU statistics. Not all SOU graduates find commencement a necessary endeavor, but the Bernards did. “I don’t think either one of us were going to walk,” Matthew said. He couldn’t resist the opportunity to invite his mom to graduation, though. Matthew decided he would go. Marge was graduating with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Because the program was through Oregon Health and Science University, she didn’t know the other students very well. It made more sense to walk with Matthew and his friends. Being around young people was one of the most fun parts about Marge’s tenure at SOU anyway. She earned a three-year nursing degree from the Bronson School of Nursing in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1979 and decided to come back to school because a lot of jobs required bachelor’s degrees. Marge and Matthew Bernard enjoy time away from the classroom in their game room. “It’s really fun going back as an older student and having all the young energy on campus,” Marge said. “One teacher said I could get into a class for alternative students, and I said ‘no way, my kids are this age.’” The Bernard family lives near most of their close relatives in Ashland. They have always been a close-knit group who enjoy sailing and skiing together. After graduation, they are all heading to Croatia to go on a sailing trip. The decision to go to college together came by default. Matthew had spent a year at Oregon State University and studied at Rogue Community College before transferring to SOU. For Marge, the decision to go back to school was time-oriented. “The kids were growing up,” Marge said. “I was working part-time, so I had a little more time to play with.” Marge started taking classes part-time at SOU in 2000, a year after Matthew graduated high school. He enrolled in SOU in 2003. The two coincidentally finished their studies at the same time, so graduation was the next step. Both are graduating with 3.9 grade point averages, and Matthew received an “Outstanding Political Science Student of the Year” award. Both worked part-time throughout their studies. Marge worked at a family practice office, was a stay-at-home mom and spent some time at Providence Medford Medical Center in intensive care before starting as an emergency room nurse in February. Matthew has been working at Professional Tool Manufacturing (the family business) during his college career and earned a business minor to go with his new job there. “We’ve both worked all the way through,” Marge said. “It’s a balancing act.” Matthew said he wasn’t embarrassed about inviting his mom to graduation, and he actually liked having her around campus. “Since we’re in different departments, I hardly ever saw her,” Matthew said. He would meet his mom and younger sister, Kate, for lunch between classes. The family atmosphere at school helped everyone get through. Now, 23-year-old Kate is the only Bernard left at SOU. As far as graduation goes, getting the clear to walk together was no problem. “We just asked President Zinser if we could do it, and she said ‘yes,’” Marge Bernard said. Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or [email protected]. . DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams