Father and daughter duo shared one class and will be graduating together this Saturday, May 4th at Nevada State University. Trinity Kirkland, 22, majoring in English with a minor in creative writing, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Daryl Kirkland, 54, majoring in communications and graduating Magna Cum Laude in Henderson, Nevada on May 1, 2024.
Saturday, May 4, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Trinity Kirkland has done everything with her father, Daryl, for as long as she can remember — from catching early screenings of superhero movies to joining him in the recording studio to embed her vocals onto her father’s new song.
And today, she’ll walk across the stage at the Thomas & Mack Center with him as they accept their bachelor’s degrees during Nevada State University’s 2024 spring commencement. Trinity Kirkland, 22, majored in English with a minor in creative writing; Daryl Kirkland, 54, is a communications major. It’s the first graduation since the Henderson institution was renamed from Nevada State College to Nevada State University.
“I just feel honored to be a part of this journey and be a part of this class, like, the first class of Nevada State University is so cool to me,” Trinity Kirkland said. “Doing it with my dad also just makes me feel like, oh my gosh, this is something we get to go and tell people all the time. Like, we really did it, and we did it together.”
While many people can say they went to the same university as their parents, not as many can tout that they went to school at the same time as their parents. Daryl Kirkland started out decades ago as a dental assistant in the United States Air Force and recorded music with his friends on the side.
He received a two-year associate degree in 2012 and worked as a software test engineer for automotive and aviation companies, but he hadn’t continued his education outside of taking the occasional community college course.
The narrative changed when Trinity Kirkland was a senior at Del Sol Academy and began weighing her college options. She and her two older siblings always grew up hearing the same refrain from their parents: “If they didn’t go to college, they would go to jail.”
Daryl Kirkland couldn’t expect their kids to attend college and get a degree if the two of them didn’t have one, he said.
Though Trinity Kirkland had been accepted to UNLV, she initially decided to attend College of Southern Nevada and transfer to Nevada State University.
It also helped that Nevada State University had cheaper tuition and accepted her father as a student, Trinity Kirkland added. It was a decision that not only saved money, but helped Trinity and Daryl Kirkland bond further.
“It’s a proud parent moment because, for one, she’s basically on cruise control so I don’t have to micromanage her,” Daryl Kirkland said of being with his daughter at college. “It was just kind of cool to see her and already know the work is going to be done, and then she’s really excited and passionate about her classes in that school.”
The few years Trinity and Daryl have spent together in college have been filled with moments of friendly competition, like when they were in the same online English class. Trinity Kirkland makes sure to let everyone know she bested her father in grades, receiving an A to his A-.
It’s also been a journey of mutual support, they said. One night while meeting virtually with their shared professor, Trinity Kirkland said her father was walking past them when he overheard the professor suggesting Trinity should help him proofread an essay draft.
Chris Harris, an associate professor of communications at the university, said Daryl Kirkland was “very focused, very thoughtful” and “a really good listener” who always stayed humble. Trinity Kirkland was “very outspoken,” “impressive” and elevated conversations in the communications class despite her being from a completely different major, Harris said.
Harris specifically remembers the Kirkland father-daughter duo during a thought-provoking conversation on culture. While Trinity Kirkland was talking, Harris said he could see Daryl Kirkland looking at her with pride in his eyes.
“I just thought it was really cool that you have a father and a daughter graduating the same year and kind of leaned on each other for inspiration for each other, coming from the same family to complete this goal that they both worked hard for,” Harris said.
Trinity and Daryl Kirkland’s educational journeys — and competition — aren’t finished.
Trinity Kirkland is aiming for world domination, she said, as well as doctorates in education, law and anthropology. If that isn’t enough, she’s got her creative writing, her acting, her indie girl band — called Melliculus — and plenty more degrees to pursue. She wants to “catch ’em all,” like Pokemon.
Her father, not wanting to be beaten in this family competition, said he’s looking to earn a master’s in communications and get his bachelor’s in information technology to finish what he started with his associate degree years ago.
The two said they couldn’t have gotten to where they are now without the faculty, staff and support systems at Nevada State University — which Daryl said was “probably one of the best schools (he’s) ever attended.” Trinity Kirkland has felt so inspired by her time in college that she wants to “create every space to be like Nevada State University.”
“I think every space should feel at home and feel comfortable, and Nevada State has been that (for us),” Trinity Kirkland said. “So I can’t wait to continue to take the things that I’ve learned here and just move on to every single space and bring that type of energy.”
[email protected] / 702-948-7854 / @gracedarocha
