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SALT LAKE CITY — Out of 8,047 students graduating from Western Governors University, a mother of nine kids was chosen to give the final speech at the summer graduation ceremony Saturday.
Amanda Suni Lisonbee grew up in Oregon and moved to Kimberly, Idaho, with her three children. She met and married her husband in 2010, blending her children with his three kids.
She started her degree in 2012 at the nonprofit online college based in Salt Lake City. She considered herself a "pro" stay-at-home mom.
That changed when her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident on his way home from work, one week before his 33rd birthday.
"We were having a birthday party for him, so my kids were hiding behind curtains," Lisonbee said. "But he wasn't the one who came to the door."
She was six weeks away from delivering their third child together, bringing the total number of children she cared for to nine. All of the children were under the age of 14.
"It was potentially a derailing situation," Lisonbee said. "More than ever, I needed to get this degree. This whole idea of it being off in the future just got crushed.”
A first generation college student, the 33-year-old mother decided to become a teacher and get her bachelor's degree in special education. She could work the same hours that her kids were in school and not miss parenting.
But completing her education still posed a challenge.
"I’ve literally done my homework in the bathroom,” Lisonbee said, laughing. "There have been weeks where I think, 'No, I think I’ll live in my bed.'"
Her advice to other single parents working on completing their education can be found in the theme of her commencement speech: "Today is my someday."
"Someday gets here no matter what you do. Everyday is going to pass and eventually you’re going to be at someday,” she said. "All you have to do is today. Then tomorrow, you’re going to be that much stronger and that much better. Tomorrow’s you is going to be more equipped to handle tomorrow.”
Lisonbee admitted to feeling nervous when she was selected as a commencement speaker for Saturday's ceremonies at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, but she wanted to share her story.
"I’d love to be able to share my journey because I feel like it’s something that a lot of people can relate to," she said.
Western Governors University public relations manager Jeff Burton said he interviewed over 70 graduates from around the country who applied to give commencement speeches.
When Lisonbee told her story to his committee, he said there wasn't a dry eye in the room.
"This is my fifth or sixth commencement and I’ve never been moved like I was with her story," he said. "The thing that’s amazing about her story is the perseverance."
Lisonbee said she recognizes that her journey was not made alone. She credits her success to her family and her WGU academic adviser, Lori Ellwanger.
"We’re academic advisers and life coaches, basically," Ellwanger said. "I’m a teacher, and the role of an educator is to help prepare our students for life."
Lisonbee has communicated with her adviser via phone, but she met Ellwanger face to face for the first time Thursday before Saturday's graduation.
"I love when I have the opportunity to meet my students,” Ellwanger said. "This meeting is special.”
Now that she has graduated, Lisonbee plans on teaching at a local elementary school in Kimberly where she finished her student teaching. She will be working with special education children in kindergarten through second grade.
Lisonbee said she wants to teach her kids and her classes to have faith in their future selves.
"If you can have faith in your future self that by the time you get to those things that look so overwhelming, you’ll be a different person. You’ll be a stronger person," she said. "A year from now, you’re going to be saying the same thing, ‘I survived all of this’ and it might as well be something worth something.”
