© 2026 ABC News

After dancing along to lyrics like “We did it … yeah I knew we could .. yeah, thank God we did it,” the siblings held up handmade signs congratulating their mom.

“I was shocked. I was happy. I was proud,” said Hall, who for the past two years has been going to graduate school at night while working full-time as an academic program coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis. \"I was proud of myself too because there were some nights where I was like I don't know how this is going to work.\"

Hall's best friend, and the children's godmother, orchestrated the surprise, keeping them at her house for a few hours one day so they could make the signs and learn the dance.

\"We spent like a day drawing on the [signs] and we did the dance one more time after drawing them [to practice],\" said Edwyn, Hall's oldest child. \"I was proud of my mom for doing this.\"

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy Candace Hall
PHOTO: Candace Hall was surprised by her three children after defending her dissertation thesis for a doctorate in education.
>

Hall, who will graduate in May, said she has made it through the past two years of being a student, mom and employee thanks to help from her husband and her mother-in-law, whom she calls her \"mother-in-love.\"

\"None of this is possible without them supporting the family and supporting me in the way that they did,\" said Hall.

She also accomplished it by using her \"me time\" at night to study and including her kids in her educational journey.

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy Candace Hall
PHOTO: Candace Hall was surprised by her three children after defending her dissertation thesis for a doctorate in education.
>

\"She always does her homework at the dining room table, at the end [seat],\" Edwyn said of his mom. \"I sit next to her.\"

Hall said she heard people say many times that she was \"crazy\" for going back to school while working full-time and being a mom to three young kids.

She wants her kids to remember that she earned her doctorate anyway.

\"I hope my kids take away that they can do anything that they set their minds to. I know people say that all the time to kids growing up, but I hope that I’ve demonstrated that,\" she said. \"I hope they’re not afraid to go after their dreams no matter what people say to them.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/kids-congratulate-mom-dissertation-defense-adorable/story?id=65797806","legacySlug":"/living/story/kids-congratulate-mom-dissertation-defense-adorable-65797806","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"19:14","publishDate":"09-24-2019","updatedTime":"12:06","updatedDate":"09-25-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Candace Hall was surprised by her three children after defending her dissertation thesis for a doctorate in education.","credit":"Courtesy Candace Hall","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/dissertation-1-ht-er-190924_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"9/24/2019 19:14:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":65797806,"headline":"Kids congratulate mom in most adorable way ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_KIDS VIDEO FOR MOM'S DISSERTATION_190923","description":"Candace Hall's three kids delivered a choreographed routine.","duration":"1:00","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/09/190924_gma_digital_congrats1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["56663023","62573236","65409350"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"August 15, 2019","headline":"15 moms give their advice for teaching kids to be kind this school year","section":"family","slug":"/family/story/15-moms-give-advice-teaching-kids-kind-school-56663023","id":56663023,"image":{"alt":"15 moms give their advice for teaching kids to be kind this school year","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/BackToSchool_GFX_GL_072318_V2_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"GMA Photo Illustration, Istock","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"August 13, 2019","headline":"Teacher becomes foster mom to her student, who becomes valedictorian ","section":"family","slug":"/family/story/teacher-foster-mom-student-valedictorian-62573236","id":62573236,"image":{"alt":"Teacher becomes foster mom to her student, who becomes valedictorian ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/robertandamymain_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Amy Krusemark","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"September 5, 2019","headline":"Moms distribute buttons on subways after city inaction","section":"family","slug":"/family/story/moms-organize-distribute-baby-board-buttons-pregnant-subway-65409350","id":65409350,"image":{"alt":"Moms distribute buttons on subways after city inaction","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/baby-1-ht-er-190905_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Chicago Sun-Times","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Kids congratulate mom in most adorable way ","description":"Candace Hall's three kids delivered a choreographed routine.","duration":"1:00","uploadDate":"09-24-2019","publication":"09-24-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/09/190924_gma_digital_congrats1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/09/190924_gma_digital_congrats1_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/kids-congratulate-mom-dissertation-defense-adorable-65797806"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"Kids congratulate mom in most adorable way ","pubTime":"15:14","pubDate":"09-24-2019","modTime":"08:06","modDate":"09-25-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":65797806,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Kids congratulate mom in most adorable way ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_KIDS VIDEO FOR MOM'S DISSERTATION_190923","videoId":65797806,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/kids-congratulate-mom-dissertation-defense-adorable-65797806"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/65797806","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/65797806","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};