Among the many seniors graduating from Selma High School this Friday evening, there is one woman who will stood out above the rest.

Tammy Suttles, a 25-year-old mother of a young son, donned the cap and gown that has been hanging in her closet for the past six years and walked with the Class of 2004 to receive her high school diploma.

For the past week, Suttles been prepared for the big moment when family and friends finally got to see the diploma placed into her hands.

“I have been putting on my gown every night and practicing my walk, making sure I’m not walking too fast or slow,” Suttles said. “I’m ready. I just hope I don’t pass out. This has truly been a blessing for me.”

Suttles, a former student at Selma High, missed her chance to graduate back in 1998 after failing the math portion of the Alabama High School Graduating Exam by one point.

Despite pleadings from her mother and boyfriend, Suttles never bothered to go back and take the test again.

“I started pursuing a career in cosmetology,” Suttles said. “I hear about this program at Wallace Community College Selma where you didn’t need a high school diploma or (general equivalency diploma) in order to start taking classes. I got my first A at Wallace, and received at 4.0 grade point average in cosmetology.”

Suttles needed her G.E.D. in order to finish the program, but instead of studying the various basic subjects required for the test, she decided to re-take the math portion of the exit exam and get her high school diploma.

After getting permission from the City School System last October, Suttles returned to Selma High and sat among a classroom of 17- and 18-year-olds to take the test.

“I only had one week to prepare,” Suttles said. “I went to the library and got books and researched online. I fast and prayed about it. When the counselor at Selma High finally told me I passed, I practically leap from the building to my car.”

Being able to receive her high school diploma is a big accomplishment for Suttles, but she also did it to teach her son, 5-year-old Don’travious, about never giving up.

“I don’t want my son to think ‘my mom gave up, so it’s okay for me to give up’,” Suttles said. “I don’t want him to have a hard life like I did or my mom did. I decided not to let one little test stop me from giving him a good life.”

Dr. James Carter, Superintendent of Selma City Schools, said he wishes more former students would try to get their high school diploma.

“We have a open door policy to let people get their diplomas and walk in graduation,” Carter said. “I hope watching (Suttles) participate in graduation will inspire other students to realize that if she can do it, so can they.”

Suttles said it was her boyfriend, Ernest Foster, who served as her “backbone” during the entire process, encouraging her to ignore the snickering of the teen-agers as she took the exit exam.

Now, on top of this recent success, Suttles will graduate from WCCS in July with a 4.0 GPA. She plans to return to school for two more years to get a degree in business and eventually start her own hair salon.

“I felt that I gave up, but I finally realized that I don’t have to depend on the system. I can get back to work,” Suttles said. “I hope I can inspire other kids to go for it. They only have one life to live, and they should live it to the fullest.”