More than 4,500 students graduated from the University of South Florida this past weekend — but one couple took part in two ceremonies Friday: commencement and their wedding.
Emily and Sean Rooks both received their bachelor of arts in language speech hearing science from the USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, just hours after they were married on the Tampa campus.
Emily, 26, wore her wedding dress underneath her graduation gown, and decorated her cap with the words, "Just Married."
"We've been together for eight years," she explained. "And all of our family members were disappointed that we were going to go elope.
And they're like, 'No, (we) want to be part of it.'
"So we're like, 'Okay, well, any family members that are going to want to be at our graduation could also be there for our wedding, so let's do it right before at the (USF) Botanical Gardens. So that's what we did, and it worked out."
Around 30 family members, including the couple's seven-year-old daughter attended the ceremony.
"Obviously, (it's) a great memory for her, I think she's going to be able to remember it," said Sean Rooks, who also turned 32 on Sunday.
"We were going to go to the Grand Caymans (to elope)," he added. "But instead... (Emily said), 'We made a great day with graduation into a magical day."
The pair, who have been together for eight years, met at Ava Maria University in Collier County where both were student-athletes — Sean played basketball, while Emily played lacrosse.
Graduation was also a long time coming for both, as Emily graduated eight years after starting college, while Sean took 13 years.
As for what's next, the family will be moving to the Tampa area, where Sean will work as a project manager for a custom home builder, while Emily will be teaching at her daughter's elementary school.
