Dozens of adult students obtained GED diplomas Wednesday at a graduation ceremony in Norwalk.

School officials say 63 people earned the high school equivalency certificates from Brien McMahon High School this year.

Ruth Fajardo was one of those students. She moved to the United States from her native Honduras as a teenager.

She says she dropped out of school after she became pregnant several times. The mother of four was working in web design for about nine years until she decided to try for her GED diploma. She earned it after 18 months of hard work.

Fajardo was selected to share her story as one of the ceremony's commencement speakers.

Norwalk Public Schools officials say adult learners can achieve three years of high school work in a mere 18 months.

Some graduates say they struggled between working, raising their children and doing their course work. 

As one official put it: It's about the journey, not the piece of paper.