A New Heart and a New Diploma

When Principal Michael Campbell called out Taylor Givens' name at the class of 2011 graduation, loud cheers erupted from the audience. 

But instead of walking across the podium with the rest of her peers, Taylor was recovering from a recent heart transplant in a hospital bed at INova Fairfax Hospital. So Campbell, several CVHS administrators and teachers, along with a number of Taylor's friends, put together a first for : a graduation ceremony held in the intensive care unit (ICU). 

Surrounded by her friends, family, and hospital staff, Givens received her diploma just three weeks after the surgery and a few days after her peers. "Now by the power invested in me by the Fairfax County School Board and state of Virginia, I now declare you a graduate of the class of 2011 of Centreville High School," Campbell said, before he handed Givens her diploma. 

"It feels good to graduate," Givens said, who smiled during the ceremony despite not feeling well. 

Nurse Diana Biondi, who helped take care of Givesn over the past few weeks, said she's seen all kinds of ceremonies in the hospital, but this one was really special. "We've done weddings but this is a first for ICU," she said. 

No one could have predicted at the start of Givens' senior year that her graduation ceremony would be held in the hospital, though. It was only in March that Givens, who was in good health, suddenly started having trouble breathing. Doctors determined that her heart had enlarged. They aren't sure why, but having ruled out more exotic reasons, think it might be the result of a common cold, said her father, Jody Givens. 

The school worked with Taylor to help get her through the rest of the year, even rescheduling exams to help her as she worked through the process. Her friends in choral also tried to support her as best they could, dedicating two concerts at the end of the year in her honor. 

"I have to say the school has been fantastic in working through this with us," said Taylor's mom Lisa. 

It certainly helped that Taylor was already a good student and a high achiever in the chorale department, faculty and administrators said.

"She had really done the majority of the school year," said school counselor Heather Scott, who also attended the ceremony. 

Givens, who eventually plans to attend Radford University, was able to return home in early July. At the ceremony, Lynne Babcock, the choral director, told her that she had won a scholarship from the choral department and a national choral award, each worth $500. They'll be deferred until she's ready to use them.