Photo: Marleena Garris | Unsplash
Gabrielle Pierce completed bachelor's requirements for Louisiana's Xavier University in December 2019. "They only have one commencement each year," Pierce said. "So I had to wait until spring of 2020 to walk." When she was notified in mid-March that the long-awaited commencement would be virtual, Pierce cried for a week. The Public Health Science major was crushed at the loss of the rite-of-passage ceremony. That's when Dad came in. "I was really devastated. Just to see your baby crying -- knowing that she worked so hard and stayed the course. She did everything right. I said, 'You're going to walk across somebody's stage, even if I have to build you one,'" said Torrence Burson with a laugh. That night, Burson said a prayer before bed, and the idea for a graduation in their home came in a dream. Within six weeks, Burson pulled together a stage, podium, speaker, and even convened the family pastor and an aunt to speak. Forty friends and family with face masks attended the 45 minute cere
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