BOISE, Idaho — More than 2,600 people graduated from Boise State University on Saturday, but one of those graduates has waited over a decade to hear his name called during the commencement ceremony.
Jovan Hutchinson played for the Boise State football program from 2002 to 2006. His final game for the Broncos was the 2007 Fiesta Bowl win over the University of Oklahoma.
After his final game, Hutchinson never finished his college degree. Since then, he's been working with the Eagle Fire Department. He says life just got in the way of finishing the one math class that he needed to take before graduating.
Hutchinson says the birth of his first child and work became his main priorities. But never getting his degree lingered in the back of his mind, not saying he was a Boise State graduate bothered him, he says.
But a single phone call from Gabe Rosenthal in the Academics Department at Boise State and his mom's persistence on telling him to go back was the final motivation he needed to finish his degree.
"I'm relieved that I can finally say I'm a Boise State graduate and not a Boise State football player," Hutchinson said. "What better timing, my mother has been on me about this for the last 12 years and what better present for Mother's Day to be a graduate."
Jane Freund was his personal tutor when he went back to class. She says seeing him graduate really hits home because she dropped out of college in 1986 and didn't get her degree until 1997.
"It's really motivating for me as a tutor to see someone jump over that milestone," she said.
Hutchinson says he wants to be a motivational speaker and inspire others with his story now.