Graduates usually walk away feeling different from when they started school, and that's absolutely true for Jordan Almendral.
But Jordan changed as a person even before he started at Florida International University.
"I'm a lot more responsible, independent," he told NBC 6.
In July 2010, the former baseball star was paralyzed in a car crash that left him in a wheelchair before his senior year of high school.
Jordan's journey has been overwhelming, but his persistence over the last eight years has helped him earn a bachelors degree in psychology from FIU.
"This is my first big accomplishment since my injury," he told NBC 6 at his graduation ceremony Monday. "So I'm feeling great."
Jordan still loves sports -- he hopes to become a sports psychologist and specialize in helping athletes recover mentally from devastating injuries.
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No matter his career goals, his mother says his family will be behind him.
"His resilience is just amazing," Lourdes Allegue said. "He inspires people every day."
