This month, thousands of students will walk away from campuses with diplomas in hand and memories of all-nighters and cram sessions. They all worked hard, but not many can say they overcame a hurricane.

We talked to one who did just that: Saxon Wolf was in the middle of nursing school when she was forced to flee Gulfport, Mississippi. Friday, she walked across the stage with a diploma from Chippewa Valley Technical College.

It was almost two years ago that Hurricane Katrina slammed into the southern United States, killing hundreds and sending thousands scrambling for a new place to live.

"It was very surreal. It was a nightmare,” says Wolf. “We were able to save the kitchen table and some of the kids’ toys, but that’s about it."

Wolf and her husband packed up their two little girls and moved in with her parents in Eau Claire. Within a couple weeks, her husband was deployed with the U.S. Navy and Saxon was enrolled at CVTC.

"I was in the nursing program when the hurricane happened and wasn't sure if I could go back,” Wolf says. "I talked with CVTC and they graciously let me in with just my word no transcripts or anything."

"She was a great contribution to the classroom,” says Nursing Instructor Kim Ernstmeyer. “She coped fantastically; a lot of people that would’ve set them back a long time."

Friday afternoon, Saxon accepted her nursing pin, spent time with her two daughters, then sat with her classmates at graduation—knowing that she had to handle a lot more in the past couple years than most people will in a lifetime.

"We're proud of her. It was tough being apart for a year and a half. It’ll be great to have her come home," says Trevor Wolf, Saxon’s husband.

"I think it's the biggest triumph to go through everything, including school and thinking this day may never come,” says Wolf. “Knowing what I had to go through and keeping my head in the books was hard."

Next week, a day will come that Saxon never doubted.

"I love it down there. I love the community."

She and her family are headed back home to Gulfport, diploma in hand, and a future, much more clear.