11-year-old to fill cap, gown of deployed dad
By JANE STANCILL, Staff WriterEleven-year-old Josh Hughes will put on a cap and gown tonight and accept an MBA diploma at Elon University.
No, he's not a child prodigy. He is standing in for his dad, Capt. Steve Hughes, who has been in Iraq with the National Guard since February.
Before Hughes left, he told his only child, "You're the man of the house now." Tonight, that job includes picking up his dad's master's degree in business administration.
"I'm proud that I'm getting the diploma for him," said Josh, a fifth-grader who gets straight A's at Elon Elementary School. "I wish he could be here to accept it."
Hughes, a Burlington Industries sales manager who had spent 17 years in the military with no wartime deployment, was told in September that he would be sent to Iraq. He was in the middle of his last course in Elon's business program.
Elon allowed him to do an independent study project to complete his degree while being trained at Fort Stewart, Ga. His project involved developing a system for quicker transport of vehicle parts from the United States to Iraq. He is now using that knowledge as a battalion maintenance officer in charge of a fleet of vehicles.
Josh has memorized the routine for tonight: Shake the dean's hand with the right hand, take the diploma with the left, and smile for the cameras.
His mother, Juanita, a nurse at Duke University Hospital, will have her hankie handy and her camcorder charged. His father couldn't be more proud.
"He will always remember when his father went off to war," Hughes wrote in an e-mail message from somewhere northeast of Baghdad. "Hopefully he will have an equally positive memory of accepting a milestone for his dad."
