The pursuit of higher education often falls by the wayside when a celebrity is trying to break into the world of show biz.
Such was the case with country music star Gretchen Wilson.
A decade ago the Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter dropped out of school in her native Tennessee to pursue her dream of becoming a star.
It’s a decision Wilson says she has regretted for years, but come May 15th the songstress will finally be able to redeem herself. Next Thursday Wilson will don a cap and gown and graduate with hundreds of others during a ceremony she says her entire family will attend.
Wilson passed her General Educational Development exam in April and already has plans for the diploma she will receive next week. According to the famous singer, her diploma will be framed and hung near her numerous music awards.
Asked why she waited until this year to take the GED test, Wilson told reporters that she credits her seven-year-old daughter Grace.
“I certainly don’t want her (Grace) to think you can be this successful without an education,” Wilson said.
But Wilson is not the only famous face preparing to clutch a diploma this month.
Nearly a quarter century after leaving Syracuse University, actress Vanessa Williams will get her bachelor of fine arts degree this weekend.
The 45-year-old “Ugly Betty” star is also scheduled to deliver the convocation address on Saturday to graduates of Syracuse’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
The model turned singer turned actress attended Syracuse’s drama department as a musical theater major from 1981-1983, but dropped out before getting her diploma. According to school administrators, Williams earned the remaining credits for her degree through industry experience and performances on stage and screen.
Williams dropped out of school shortly after she became the first black Miss America in 1983. Several months later she surrendered the title after Penthouse magazine published sexually explicit photographs of her taken several years earlier.
Interestingly, in 1996, Williams received the George Arents Pioneer Medal, Syracuse University’s most prestigious alumni award, even though she had not graduated from the school.