It's Official....Dr.T!

Tonight, the University of Florida School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies hosted a virtual graduation for the graduate students. 

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I could not have achieved this without all the support from my friends and family.

Here is the acknowledgements from my dissertation:

I sincerely thank my advisor, Dr. Kristen Kemple, for her support and guidance throughout this process. She has been on this journey with me since I entered the early childhood program to pursue my post baccalaureate degree. I would like to extend my appreciation to each member of my dissertation committee: Dr. Alyson Adams, Dr. Hazel Jones, Dr. Tina Smith-Bonahue, Dr. Jacqueline Swank, and Dr. Catherine Emihovich. The insights from my committee from conception to defense have been invaluable. The expertise of each person has helped shaped my work and I am truly grateful for the support. I appreciate all of the assistance of Shaira Rivas-Otero, who kept me on track and moving forward. I am thankful for Dr. Diane Strangis, who made me promise to pursue my doctorate and always had faith in my ability to contribute to the field of early childhood education. I am grateful to Dr. Ryan Wilke, who provided guidance and support through my doctoral work. I appreciated his willingness to talk about my study and shared my enthusiasm about my data. Thank you also to Dr. Michael Wilson who provided support throughout the process.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family who have traveled this journey with me. Their endless patience, continual support, and unrelenting encouragement made this dissertation possible. Specifically, I would like to thank my mom, Cynthia Summers, who has encouraged me to get “As” and never faltered from her belief in my abilities. I am grateful to my uncle John McCool, for the relentless urging to finish this work and willingness to support me through it. I am fortunate to have the extended support of Matthew Summers, Melinda Gilner, Michael McCool, and Tom Orlowski, who believed that I could complete this accomplishment. Last but certainly not least, I am forever grateful to all of my friends who were always there to encourage me and understood when school had to come first.

For tonight . . . I'm just sayin' XOXO