MARIETTA - Southern Polytechnic State University will conduct its 97th commencement today and, for the first time in its history, the university will have two ceremonies for its largest ever graduating class.

Among the 367 graduates will be a mother and her daughter who are both earning master's degrees. But, Yollande Chang of Marietta and her daughter, Tsui Mei Chang, who recently moved from Marietta to Decatur, said they never planned to graduate together.

Yollande Chang, 50, earned a bachelor's degree from SPSU in 2007. She took a year off and entered SPSU's electrical engineering technology graduate program in 2008. After graduating from Smith College in 2004, 28-year-old Tsui Mei Chang worked before entering SPSU's computer science graduate program in 2005, while continuing to work full time.

"In the spring, I was like, 'Hey I'm getting ready to graduate next year in the spring,'" recalled Yollande Chang. "And she was like, 'I think I'm graduating too sometime soon.'"

Tsui Mei Chang said their graduation was just another milestone in their lives before the opportunity to march together came along.

"I was going to take the fall semester off because I was going to miss three weeks of the semester," Tsui Mei Chang said. "But, she said 'Come graduate with me!' So, I pushed through that fall semester."

Sylvia Carson, SPSU spokeswoman, said no one at the university can recall when a mother and daughter graduated at the same time. Because the situation is unique, SPSU is allowing the two women to walk together in the afternoon ceremony, though they were scheduled to receive their degrees at different times.

Family members from New York and Florida are traveling to see both women graduate. Education has always been important to their family, the women said. Coming from a Haitian immigrant background, hard work was also emphasized. Yollande Chang has a 3.88 GPA and Tsui Mei Chang has a 3.75 GPA.

"Education is really important to our family," said Yollande Chang's sister, Jacqueline Lafontant of Kissimmee, Fla. "No matter how old you are, you still have to keep going until you reach your goal."

Both mother and daughter said they have always been close. They've traveled internationally, scuba dived and sometimes discussed their classes together. However, the death of Yollande Chang's eldest of two children, 28-year-old Mai-Lee Chang, brought them even closer when she died as a result of brain damage in 2008.

"It probably had its effect," said Yollande Chang, who took a year off of school soon after the loss.

After graduation, Yollande Chang said she plans to take the summer off and prepare for a job in the energy field. Tsui Mei Chang said she will continue to work at her current job in the health care profession.

Graduating with her together, just one day before Mother's Day, Yollande Chang said it was "like a present."

SPSU's commencement ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today in the campus gymnasium located on the south end of campus at 1100 South Marietta Parkway.

Michael M. Sizemore, founder and president of architecture firm The Sizemore Group, will deliver the commencement address for both ceremonies. He designed SPSU's Lawrence V. Johnson Library in 1985 and his firm helped plan the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.