David Trinko: Ottoville woman’s 8-year struggle pays off with Dayton degree

Graduation speakers usually talk about perseverance and inner strength.Kids in caps and gowns usually nod in agreement, thinking they understand.Krystal Byrne really does get it. The 26-year-old from Ottoville knows how hard the journey can be on a road seemingly with more potholes than smooth stretches. That made her eight-year trek to get a bachelor's degree from the University of Dayton worth it.“I really learned when you've been faced with death, you really gain a greater appreciation for life,” said Byrne, 26. “It's the greatest gift we've been given; it truly is a gift. It could be taken away in a split second.”Byrne could've been one of those other graduates, focused solely on collegiate pursuits. That was her goal when she enrolled at Dayton after graduating from Ottoville in 2004.Biphenotypic acute leukemia had other plans for her. It tore down her body. She faced heart failure, kidney failure and more chemotherapy than she cares to think about.It didn't destroy her dream, though, to get her visual communications degree from Dayton, even if she had to drop out five times and take a dozen other breaks from school to focus on her health when she inevitably fell ill every five weeks or so.“We knew it was college or nothing for Krystal,” said her dad, Rick Byrne. “She wouldn't give up. The light at the end of her tunnel was getting that degree.”And it had to be at Dayton.“I wasn't just going back to school. I was going home,” Krystal Byrne said. “It was the people there, the atmosphere, everything about it felt right.”A loving support system, built over her eight years in Dayton, pulled her through some dark times.“It was the beginning of my senior year, this past fall, and I was having a bunch of problems again,” Krsytal Byrne said. “I remember saying, ‘I'm done. I don't want to go back to school. I can't do this anymore.' It took me a few days to realize I could do this because I have a huge support system there.”When things get hard, she looks down at that Livestrong bracelet she's worn since first being diagnosed in the spring of her freshman year at Dayton. She remembers her faith in God, her family and her friends in Ottoville and Dayton. She remembers her favorite quotation, the “FEAR” quotation, “You can either Forget Everything And Run or you can Face Everything And Recover.”She lived those words and kept fighting to work toward that Dayton diploma. On May 5, her goal became an accomplishment.“I'd been dreaming about this day since my high school graduation ,” she said. “I woke up, and it didn't seem real until I got to U.D. Arena, with all the people there, everyone in their caps and gowns. I don't know if I wanted to cry, laugh, scream or throw up. It was even better than I imagined.”This is why we need to persevere and use our inner strength. Life is, indeed, better than you ever imagined, if you're willing to work hard for it.She wants to design print literature, maybe even write a lighthearted children's book about not being afraid of doctors. First, she'll take some time off to rest, handle some upcoming surgeries and await a day her health isn't such a concern. She deserves a break after all she's overcome.“The day she got sick, she said, ‘I will graduate,'” Rick Byrne recalled. “It took eight years, but she did it. I couldn't be any prouder of her.”