Veronica Skillin doesn’t remember her first day of kindergarten, but her dad sure does.

It was 2002 and Robby Skillin was escorting his eldest child to her first day at Olympic View Elementary.

That day, a Whidbey News-Times reporter was doing a story on the first day of kindergarten and she captured an image of Skillin with his daughter getting one last hug before he sent her off to the bigger world.

Veronica, who goes by Ronnie now, had her blond hair tied in pigtails as she gave her dad one last embrace.

At the time, Robby Skillin told the reporter his daughter had been up for hours, ready to go.

“I was proud and excited,” said Robby Skillin. “She was like, ‘Go, Dad, I got this.’”

Ronnie Skillin certainly did. She graduated Monday from Oak Harbor High School and is heading off to college.

It wasn’t an easy journey for Ronnie. She struggled her sophomore year. But she pulled things together and persevered. Although she graduated with a cumulative 2.8 GPA, her senior year she earned a 3.7.

Ronnie doesn’t remember that first day but she does remember her kindergarten teacher, Carrie Diekman.

“I remember she was fun,” Ronnie said. “I couldn’t wait to go to school. She was that teacher who always said, ‘Let’s do something.’ She always listened to me when I was talking.”

Her teacher remembers her. Carrie Diekman Nichols is now living in Italy with her husband and children and teaching kindergarten at a Department of Defense school.

That year, Nichols was a fourth-year teacher and it was her first full year teaching at a remodeled Olympic View Elementary.

“What I remember about that specific day and Veronica is that she was very shy and I’m sure intimidated as all kindergartners are on the first day,” Nichols said.

“Veronica was a sweet little girl, and I enjoyed watching her gain her confidence as the year progressed and she blossomed.

“She, like so many others, came in ready to learn and like a sponge, just soaked up everything.”

One of the things Nichols finds most fulfilling as a teacher is planting that love of learning.

She did that with Ronnie.

“In my 16 years of teaching, I’ve worked with some very special little people and have been blessed to share so many wonderful children with their parents and family,” she said. “What I love most about kindergarten is the positive start I hope I instill in my students and jump-start their love for learning.”

“Little people are so resilient and can get so excited about almost anything.”

In high school, Ronnie was involved in Future Business Leaders of America and she came to love designing pages for the high school yearbook. She plans to attend Skagit Valley College in the fall and eventually earn a degree in graphic design.

“I’ve become more confident,” she said. “I used to be that shy girl nobody talked to.”

She’s the oldest of five children. Her dad, a chief in the Navy, describes his daughter as kind and caring.

“I don’t think she has a bad bone in her body,” he said.