Student Takes First Steps At Graduation [VIDEO]

Angeline Lavasseur didn't want to break the time-honored tradition of graduates walking to get their diplomas at graduation.

The 18-year-old girl, who has been confined to a wheelchair throughout her childhood after being born with spina bifida, recently <a href="http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/washtenaw_county/graduate-takes-first-steps-in-front-of-classmates" target="_blank">walked across the stage</a> to pick up her diploma at Pinckney High School's graduation in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

<!--more-->

It marked the first time Lavasseur's classmates saw her walk.

Accompanied by a brace and crutches, Lavasseur got a standing ovation when she strolled onto the stage.

Give her an 'A' for her positive outlook. She said, "Just because I'm in a chair, I still fit in. I still do everything everyone else does."

Lavasseur now plans to go to enroll in community college and study physical therapy.

<object id="video" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="600" height="400" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="data" value="http://www.wxyz.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=9138" /><param name="FlashVars" value="&amp;skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&amp;embed=true&amp;adSizeArray=1x1000,320x40,3x1000&amp;adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fpfadx%2Fssp%2Ewxyz%2Fnews%2Fregion%2Fwashtenaw%5Fcounty%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bsz%3D%25size%25%3Bpos%3D%25pos%25%3Bloc%3D%25loc%25%3Bcomp%3D%25adid%25%3Btile%3D3%3Bfname%3Dgraduate%2Dtakes%2Dfirst%2Dsteps%2Din%2Dfront%2Dof%2Dclassmates%3Bord%3D525639477702064960%3Frand%3D%25rand%25&amp;flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D187911286&amp;img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2011%2F06%2F05%2FTeen%5Fwalks%5Facross%5Fthe%5F5ba504cc%2Dfc09%2D4760%2D9764%2D054fc12380ba0000%5F20110605231510%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&amp;story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fnews%2Fregion%2Fwashtenaw%5Fcounty%2Fgraduate%2Dtakes%2Dfirst%2Dsteps%2Din%2Dfront%2Dof%2Dclassmates&amp;category=&amp;title=&amp;oacct=&amp;ovns=" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.wxyz.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=9138" /><param name="flashvars" value="&amp;skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&amp;embed=true&amp;adSizeArray=1x1000,320x40,3x1000&amp;adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fpfadx%2Fssp%2Ewxyz%2Fnews%2Fregion%2Fwashtenaw%5Fcounty%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bsz%3D%25size%25%3Bpos%3D%25pos%25%3Bloc%3D%25loc%25%3Bcomp%3D%25adid%25%3Btile%3D3%3Bfname%3Dgraduate%2Dtakes%2Dfirst%2Dsteps%2Din%2Dfront%2Dof%2Dclassmates%3Bord%3D525639477702064960%3Frand%3D%25rand%25&amp;flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D187911286&amp;img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2011%2F06%2F05%2FTeen%5Fwalks%5Facross%5Fthe%5F5ba504cc%2Dfc09%2D4760%2D9764%2D054fc12380ba0000%5F20110605231510%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&amp;story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fnews%2Fregion%2Fwashtenaw%5Fcounty%2Fgraduate%2Dtakes%2Dfirst%2Dsteps%2Din%2Dfront%2Dof%2Dclassmates&amp;category=&amp;title=&amp;oacct=&amp;ovns=" /><embed id="video" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" height="400" src="http://www.wxyz.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=9138" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" flashvars="&amp;skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&amp;embed=true&amp;adSizeArray=1x1000,320x40,3x1000&amp;adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fpfadx%2Fssp%2Ewxyz%2Fnews%2Fregion%2Fwashtenaw%5Fcounty%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bsz%3D%25size%25%3Bpos%3D%25pos%25%3Bloc%3D%25loc%25%3Bcomp%3D%25adid%25%3Btile%3D3%3Bfname%3Dgraduate%2Dtakes%2Dfirst%2Dsteps%2Din%2Dfront%2Dof%2Dclassmates%3Bord%3D525639477702064960%3Frand%3D%25rand%25&amp;flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D187911286&amp;img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2011%2F06%2F05%2FTeen%5Fwalks%5Facross%5Fthe%5F5ba504cc%2Dfc09%2D4760%2D9764%2D054fc12380ba0000%5F20110605231510%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&amp;story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewxyz%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fnews%2Fregion%2Fwashtenaw%5Fcounty%2Fgraduate%2Dtakes%2Dfirst%2Dsteps%2Din%2Dfront%2Dof%2Dclassmates&amp;category=&amp;title=&amp;oacct=&amp;ovns=" data="http://www.wxyz.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=9138"></embed></object>

[<a href="http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/washtenaw_county/graduate-takes-first-steps-in-front-of-classmates" target="_blank">WXYZ</a>]