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In her Facebook post, Gilmer thanked her family, teachers, nurses, principals, guidance counselors and more for helping her to schieve her goals.

To Toensing, she wrote the following:

\"Of these many amazing heroes, I met one of these teachers in the sixth grade, Ms. Judy Toensing, who taught me about current events, global health, and human rights. She was the first person who passionately conveyed the plight of people living with HIV/AIDS to me and started me on this journey.\"

Gilmer continued, \"In a picture I still carry around, she told me on the last day of school that year that she would see me at my Harvard graduation, and now I can finally invite her (21 years later) and try to show her how grateful I am to her and all of my teachers from pre-K - college.\"

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy Christin Gilmer
PHOTO: Christin Gilmer, pictured at her Harvard graduation with her mother Laura Gilmer, (left) and her sixth grade teacher, Judith Toensing in May 2018
>

Toensing attended Gilmer's graduation on May 23 and 24. Afterward, she attended a celebratory dinner with Gilmer's family at an Italian restaurant.

\"It was a really humbling, touching and humility-inducing experience,\" Gilmer said. \"It meant a lot to have someone there who held my hand in the early stages.\"

Toensing wrote on Facebook, that she \"couldn't be more proud\" of Gilmer.

\"Congratulations Dr. Christin,\" Toensing commented. \"I knew you when you were Dorothy with the red shoes and now you truly made it to OZ! ... Love you and thank you for letting me be a small part of your journey.\"

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