MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University future alumni Jared Yates of Cleveland, Tennessee, and his mother, Melissa Knight Williamson, from Southern California, relish the thought of crossing the same stage at Murphy Center during the Saturday, Dec. 14, fall commencement ceremonies.

It’s been a journey of both educational enrichment and personal.

“When considering why we chose the same area of focus, I believe it is because we have a remarkably similar way of thinking,” said Yates, 34. “This is possibly due in part to the fact that we spent so much time together during the process of her raising me to be the best I could be, even against the odds.”

The mother-son duo will graduate with Master of Professional Studies degrees from University College, which provides a variety of degree pathways for adult learners and nontraditional students looking to enhance their educations.

While Yates received his bachelor’s degree in communications from Lee University, Knight Williamson finished her undergraduate degree in integrated studies at MTSU after completing her associate degree. They then pursued their graduate degrees simultaneously and even took all but one class together.

“Completing this degree together has been a true honor for me. I have been allowed to see a side of Jared that I had not seen before,” Knight Williamson, 58, said. “Watching him flourish and grow into the man, leader, husband and father of two twin boys has been enlightening.

“I will not say the experience has not been without its challenges,” she continued. “Particularly since Jared and I both faced life-threatening illnesses, such as long COVID, during our educational pursuit, but we pushed through the adversities and now are graduating side-by-side.”

Yates explained he encouraged his mother to pursue her dream of obtaining a graduate degree. Knight Williamson took her son’s advice because other than motherhood, she “felt most alive in … areas of coaching, advisement and teaching people from a holistic strengths-based philosophy.”

Yates said he appreciated having his mother as his support system during his degree program because “having someone that already understood me was a tremendous benefit when I needed one” and “knowing that we were both in the same position offered solace in the fact that if I did not know something, then maybe my mother would.”

After graduation, Knight Williamson is pursuing self-employment as she’s currently writing two books, and she also plans to conduct seminars, network and record songs that have encouraged her throughout her journey. Yates plans to work in higher education as a professor and obtain his Ph.D.

“The MPS program afforded me the scholarly proficiencies to embolden students to learn and understand their strengths, resiliency and capability while focusing on their positive qualities to become more confident and successful,” Knight Williamson said.

The Dec. 14 commencement will be held in Hale/Earle Arena inside Murphy Center at 2650 Middle Tennessee Blvd. The first of two public ceremonies will be held at 9 a.m. Central when degrees will be conferred to graduate students and undergrads in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Behavioral and Health Sciences and College of Education.

The afternoon ceremony, where Yates and Knight Williamson will be graduating, begins at 2 p.m. Central when degrees will be conferred to graduate students and undergrads in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, College of Liberal Arts, College of Media and Entertainment and University College. 

For those unable to attend in person, the event also will stream live at https://mtsu.edu/live and on the university’s Facebook channel, https://facebook.com/mtsublueraiders, and will be broadcast on MTSU’s “True Blue TV” station on local cable channels and at https://mtsu.edu/TrueBlueTV.

Of the 1,597 students set to graduate, 1,322 are undergraduates and 275 are graduate students, including 241 master’s candidates, 21 education-specialist recipients and 13 doctoral candidates. In addition, eight graduate students will be receiving graduate certificates, and 16 undergraduate students will be receiving undergraduate certificates, according to the university’s Registrar’s Office.

For more graduation information, click here.

— Maddy Williams (Maddy.Williams@mtsu.edu)