Actor Anthony Anderson has realized a dream 30 years in the making. The 51-year-old ________ a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Howard University last week. “It was all a dream! Words fail to ________ the feeling I’m having right now,” Anderson wrote on a social media platform. “My proudest moment is a sense of ________-finishing what I started many years ago.”

Anderson finished his junior year at Howard 30 years ago. ________ some financial difficulties, he had to ask for a ________ from school. He worked hard to make a ________. Later he started a family and his career ________. He played the starring roles in many films and became a ________.The following years he was occupied in his work and didn’t return to school. It was something he always felt ________ about-until his son, Nathan, gained ________ to Howard four years ago. That inspired his longing for university study, so he was ________ to go back and finish his degree.

“This spring I was ________ able to finish the work to graduate from Howard University,” Anderson said. He marked it as a ________ by calling it “a full-circle moment” and ________ his fans, “It’s never too late. Things happen when they’re supposed to happen!” Anderson, now a father of two, plans to ________ his education and go to graduate school for a master’s degree.

When my son Mark was eight years old, his teacher _________a class spelling contest, the prize being a pizza lunch for the winner plus three friends. Mark wanted to win that contest _________. He could practically _________the pizza, hot with cheese.

In _________of the contest, Mark actually agreed to a haircut, and _________he changed his mind, I took him off to the barbershop.

“Make it a lucky cut, ” I _________barber Joe. “Mark’s _________in a very important spelling contest next week. ”

“Well, did you do your homework?” the _________asked.

“Yeah. ”Mark replied.

“Do you have confidence?” barber Joe asked.

“Confidence. C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-C-E. Confidence. A lot of people spell that one _________, ” Mark explained.

“Sure. You can spell it, ” barber Joe__________. “But do you have it? You have to have confidence in yourself, son. It’s a winner’s secret __________”Mark looked at barber Joe’s reflection in the mirror, being very __________to move only his eyes and not his head for fear of losing a piece of ear to barber Joe’s scissors. “The secret weapon, huh? Confidence!”And with that, Mark __________a new motto to his bag   of tricks: I CAN WIN THE SPELLING CONTEST!

And he did. And the pizza was __________ . And Mark never forgot barber Joe’s words: “You have got to have confidence in __________, son. It’s a winner’s secret weapon.”

__________later, after creating his own firm and __________himself as a famous architect, Mark began receiving interview requests. During an interview, the reporter __________with a question that almost stumped Mark “You’re considered a great architect. When everyone around says it can’t be done, what makes you think you can__________?”

After thinking a bit, Mark replied, “__________. It’s a winner’s secret weapon.”