Parents buy billboard to celebrate son’s graduation

BELLEVUE, Neb. (KETV) – A couple in Nebraska is celebrating their son’s college achievements on the biggest platform they could find – a billboard.

“I don’t like seeing my face like 20 feet,” said Dr. Ryan Boyland, who recently graduated from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The billboard was Boyland’s mom’s idea. She explained their church and his high school are both down the street from the billboard and thought it would be the perfect spot.

Boyland shied away from any celebrations and wanted to remain quiet about his accomplishments, but his parents had other plans. They wanted the whole community to see their son’s success.

Boyland’s father said his son is an academic pioneer and is the first doctor in his family.

“Ryan was the second black valedictorian of Bellevue East High School. His brother was the first,” Boyland’s dad Roosevelt Boyland said. “So this is a good spot to continue to motivate his peers and young people coming up to let them know that they can aspire to do great things.”

Now that graduation is over, Boyland is gearing up for his residency at Denver Health, focusing on emergency medicine.

He said he wants to inspire others like him to follow their dreams.

“You can’t be what you can’t see. And so hopefully providing an example for other people to maybe motivate themselves to get into health care, realize they can get into health care and be a doctor, I think that’s very important.”

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