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Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus graduate from high school

Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus pose for a photo after accepting their high school diplomas. (Twitter/@EunKim)

In the spring of 2003, on the day before her 17th birthday, Amanda Berry was abducted by Ariel Castro.

Gina DeJesus was abducted by the same captor the following year. She was just 14.

The women, along with fellow kidnap victim Michelle Knight, spent the next 10 years in captivity. Their eventual escape made international headlines a year ago.

And while they can’t relive the adolescence Castro stole from them, they can celebrate an important milestone they missed out on while imprisoned: high school graduation.

On Wednesday, the two women donned white caps and gowns and walked across the stage during John Marshall High School’s commencement ceremony, and received honorary high school diplomas.

John Marshall High School is Berry’s old high school. The idea to honour the women came from a teacher who taught Berry when she attended the school.

“It was awesome,” Berry told the Plain Dealer not long after the ceremony. “I always wanted to grow up and be somebody and do something with my life, you know? I always planned to graduate, and my mom always wanted that for me, to see me cross the stage. So this means everything to me.”

Despite the horrific ordeal she endured, Berry still hopes to be the first member of her family to attend college.

Both Berry and DeJesus are working on their GEDs. Berry is also focusing on her daughter’s education. Eight-year-old Jocelyn, who was born in captivity, is due to begin school in the fall.