Carleton’s spring convocation became a family affair for a mother and daughter who graduated together with master’s degrees in law.
Mackenzie Gahagan Stewart and her mother Suzanne Gahagan both began their studies at Carleton in 2016. But while Gahagan Stewart just spent that summer out of school, Gahagan hadn’t been to school for nearly two decades.
Gahagan started the same degree around 2000, but did not continue with her studies.
“My daughters were just too young, and I just thought there will be a time to do it later,” she said. “Now [that] they’re grown up, it seemed [like] the perfect time.”
The pair shared a number of courses, travelling to school, and studying at home together. At first, they kept their distance in class and didn’t tell people about their relationship.
“We weren’t really sure how [our dynamic at school] would work,” Gahagan said. “We didn’t really want to be known as the cute mother-daughter duo.”
But, according to the pair, this distance didn’t last long.
“After doing a presentation together in [our] legal theories class, we realized that it was a real benefit to have your study buddy at home,” Gahagan said. “We would ride our bikes along the Rideau River discussing Foucault or whatever, and it was really kind of lovely.”
As they began embracing their relationship, people started noticing.
According to Gahagan, when they presented together in a psychology course with Danay Novoa, a Carleton professor, they would look to each other for reassurance. Novoa found one of their presentations particularly interesting given their familial bond, Gahagan added.
But for Gahagan Stewart, attending school with her mother hardly changed their relationship.
“We’ve always been so close,” she said. “Now I see her as a student and a working professional . . . so I respect her and admire her in a new light that I didn’t get before.”
Gahagan agreed, adding that one does not always present their best self at home.
“I would see her at school, and I knew the things that were going on at home, and she just had such grit,” she said.
Gahagan said she is taking a year off to think about what she wants to do with her degree, but is open to the possibility of returning to teach at Carleton. Gahagan Stewart plans to continue her post-secondary education at Carleton or elsewhere next year.
The pair graduated June 13 at the ceremony held at Carleton’s Fieldhouse.
Photo provided by Tim Rharer
