A college graduate in Texas walked the stage to receive her diploma on Saturday, accompanied by the service dog who served as her inspiration.
Taylor Dearman graduated from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and she celebrated her milestone with Skittles, a dog she met while in Georgia, KRIS reported.
They were paired together almost four years ago when Dearman began experiencing anxiety, depression and seizures. Because of that, Dearman had been forced to drop out of Texas A&M -Corpus Christi, where she had been studying nursing. She moved to Georgia to be close to her parents, and when she applied for a service dog, Skittles came into her life.
"It was so bad that I had to quit school and take a year off," Dearman told Inside Edition. "With (Skittles) I haven't had a seizure."
The dog also became an inspiration.
“It kind of, ya know, really pushed me to become an educator because every day I got to educate someone about having a dog," Dearman told KRIS. “Others had commented ‘You're not disabled, you aren't in a wheelchair.' and (she) said, 'Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean there's (not) something that could be wrong.’”
Skittles also has accompanied Dearman to her student teaching courses.
"My students, they get to learn about her every single day. And I'm teaching, and I'm doing what I love and I get to inspire our future, which is amazing," Dearman told KRIS.
Now that she's graduated, Dearman plans to pursue a job as a fifth-grade reading teacher, KRIS reported.
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