Making it to the graduation stage is a big accomplishment for high school students. But for one senior in Denver, walking across the stage was an even bigger moment.
DENVER — Making it to the graduation stage is a big accomplishment for high school students.
But for one senior in Denver, walking across the stage was an even bigger moment.
In high school, seniors cover the important topics.
“Y’all wanna pull one of my gray hairs out?” said Zoey Ngu, a graduating senior at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College, a Denver Public Schools high school, joking with her friends at lunch.
With the final days of class ahead, Zoey savors the last few trips down the hallway.
In class, she finishes her remaining assignments in her classroom chair. She’s one of a few students who can take it anywhere.
“I’ve been in a chair for all my life but on the side of being in a chair, I’ve been practicing learning to walk,” Zoey said. “I have therapy every Thursday to help strengthen my bones.”
Zoey was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, known as brittle bone disease.
“My bones are made of glass. So like let’s give an example, you throw a ball at a piece of glass, it’ll break. That’s how my bones are,” Zoey said. “Like, I could sneeze, I could break something, I could fall, I could break something or fracture something.”
So, whether she’s in the classroom or hanging with her friends, Zoey is always careful.
“Yeah. I have to think before I do something,” Zoey said.
Years of physical therapy helped Zoey get stronger, more independent. Enough to act on a dream and take on one last test.
“Since 6th grade, I always had the mindset of wanting to do it the day I graduate,” Zoey said.
Two weeks later, DMLK students filed into Magness Arena at the University of Denver, all ready to say goodbye to high school as students and leave as graduates.
“Let’s go Zoey!” said Lilian Nguyen, Zoey’s mom.
Holding cardboard cutouts of Zoey’s baby photos, Lilian sits eagerly, surrounded by family and friends, all ready to watch Zoey graduate.
“I think she’s the last one,” Lilian said to her loved ones seated close by.
On high school’s final stage, the nerves kick in.
“A little bit, yeah,” Zoey said.
The last to get a diploma, Zoey’s name is called. She shocks her classmates by leaving her wheelchair behind, using a walker as she steps across the stage ready to take her diploma.
Her steps drive the crowd to their feet, screaming and cheering for Zoey.
“She did it,” Lilian said, wiping away tears.
“Y’all’s a bunch of cry babies!” Lilian said, laughing and joking with family. “There’s something in my eye, too. It’s still in there.”
Those steps are no match for the strides of support.
“That was awesome,” said Tim Boyland, Zoey’s teacher at DMLK.
Zoey’s steps – a shock for Boyland, but not the cheers and standing ovation.
“That was not surprising as much because they, like her class, love Zoey,” Boyland said.
“Yeah. It made my ears ring a little,” Zoey said, laughing about the cheers she received.
Years of therapy, practice and hope made possible with the turn of a tassel.
“I was just focused on getting to the other side because and watching where I’m walking to make sure I don’t trip or anything,” Zoey said.
“She did really good. She’s – I’m really proud of her and I’m glad that I can call her my older sister,” said Tatum Ngu, Zoey’s sister.
“I’m proud of her,” said Finley Loc Ngu, Zoey’s brother.
Diploma in hand, each photo taken, now a memory capturing Zoey’s dream of walking come true. Her final assignment now complete.
“She did it, she did it guys,” Lilian said.
In the fall, Zoey will head to CU Denver to study radiology. She hopes to use her own experience in the medical system to help others.