They arrived from different paths.

One was a longtime banker who couldn't shake her love for science.

Another was a teenager from Indonesia, who when it came time to go to college chose the school of his parents, his sister and several aunts and uncles.

A third arrived because of unfulfilled expectations, or as he perceived them to be in a family where education is prized.

Today, the first two will be in cap and gown at UNC Charlotte's Halton Arena to walk to the end of this path - the banker with a Ph.D., the student from Indonesia with a bachelor's degree.

New paths will open.

But the path for the third, Hiram Watkins, closed in December at 41. He died suddenly on campus of cardiac arrest, a semester shy of a degree in economics. The faculty of UNCC's business college voted unanimously to present the degree posthumously. Watkins' proud parents, Herbert and Catherine, will be there to accept it.

His story first:

He was a self-taught chef, working in New York restaurants, or traveling the world to cook for a wealthy client. He had worked in sales marketing in Arizona, chauffeured executives and catered parties.

But something always gnawed at Hiram Watkins. He attended the University of Rochester, near where he grew up in New York, but quit and started a different path.

He couldn't free himself from the family expectation.

Four years ago, he came to his father, Herbert, a retired IBM executive, with satisfying news: "He said, 'Father, I know how you value formal education. The ship is late, but it is coming in.' He was going to get his degree."

Hiram enrolled at UNCC to study economics as a non-traditional student.

He continued to work, catering parties and chauffeuring. On campus, he was an "A" student and impressed his professors and classmates with his drive to work hard and give.

"Hiram was unique in the classroom: always engaged, up-to-date on the material and asking questions that went beyond the subject matter," said economics professor Carol Swartz. "He had aspirations."

But what she "treasured" the most was "Hiram the person."

He would tutor classmates and offer up his worldly wisdom. Every chance, he'd stop and give Swartz a hug.

"I had a student tell me that without Hiram's help she would have left school," she said. "He helped a lot of students. That says a lot."

Hiram wanted to go to Vanderbilt to pursue a law degree and doctorate in economics.

Then on Dec. 10, after driving his parents to the airport, he went to campus to proctor an exam and meet with professors who were writing reference letters for graduate school applications.

After lunch with a classmate, he sat on a campus bench. Another student passing by noticed him slumped on the bench. Medics couldn't revive a heartbeat.

His father says he died from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can cause sudden death.

Today, Herbert Watkins will be seated at Halton with his wife, reflecting on the stories he has been told about Hiram:

"I'll think about the terrible loss and a hole in my heart that he leaves. I will be saddened to think he had worked so hard and had so much promise ... But the thing that swells my heart is the kind of person that he was and how he gave of himself, always encouraging and motivating."

An itch for science

Melanie Spencer grew up in Gastonia with a passion for math and science.

At Ashbrook High, she took heavy loads of biology, chemistry and physics - wanting to be a doctor.

She went off to UNC Chapel Hill to study chemistry and biology but got a degree in German and economics.

That led her to banking - first at NCNB, the forerunner to NationsBank, which morphed into Bank of America with Spencer along for the ride.

As a banker, she worked 18 years in various jobs, most of that time focused on marketing research. Finally, she was manager of the group that looked at where bank branches ought to be built, or closed.

That job took her on the road - difficult with two children to raise. She decided to leave to be a mother.

Yet the years went by, and suddenly her two children were off to college. She had to figure out what to do with the rest of her life.

The itch for science flared up, and Spencer approached a UNCC immunology professor for permission to take a graduate-level course.

"He said, 'Take it. If after three weeks you're lost, you can drop it,'" she recalled. "I took it and loved it."

Spencer took more courses and did well, rediscovering her "inner science geek."

So she went to see Larry Mays, head of UNCC's bioinformatics department.

"I looked at her background and suggested she take some bio courses, figuring that I probably wouldn't hear from her again," Mays said in an email. "I did. I started to hear from faculty in biology about this fantastic student."

Spencer, now 50, jumped in and decided to pursue a doctorate in bioinformatics, applying statistics and computer science to the field of molecular biology.

"With my background in marketing research, it seemed like a more logical place for me than biology," she said. "My friends thought I'd lost my mind."

Now, she's pursuing an academic position, as she works in a postdoctoral project at UNC Chapel Hill's Nutrition Research Institute at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.

"I am interested in the intersection of nutrition and human metabolism," she said. "Bacteria do a lot for our metabolism. Bioinformatics is critically important to understanding bacteria.

"It is a privilege to work in this area ... where what you do can make a difference in people's health."

No other choice

In high school in Medan in Indonesia, Jonathan Junus had plenty of college choices.

Early on, he knew where he wanted to go: UNC Charlotte.

His father, Udjam, and mother, Lie Po Sian, are UNCC graduates. So is his sister, Christina. Three uncles and two aunts have UNCC degrees.

"When we were young, they shared their experiences of America and UNCC with us," Jonathan said. "I was fascinated with their stories."

His parents arrived in this country in 1976 to learn English at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. A year later, they enrolled at Wingate College (now University), and after two years transferred to UNCC.

After they graduated, they returned home and started a company that manufactures palm oil extraction machinery.

They raised three children. When it came time for Christina to go to college, she took the path of her parents - enrolling first at Wingate, where she met her husband, Christopher Fisher. The two transferred to UNCC, where Christina got a bachelor's and master's degree.

Then it was Jonathan's turn.

He first went to Central Piedmont Community College to get a better grasp on English. There, he began what he would continue at UNCC: volunteering for nonprofits. The list is long: Second Harvest Food Bank, Greater Enrichment Program, Loaves & Fishes, Uptown Shelter.

"Doing that work showed me so many things about America," he said. "I meet so many people and make so many friends. That's how I keep improving English."

At UNCC, he started a Chinese language club for students to practice Mandarin.

Today, his parents, his sister - maybe an uncle or aunt - will be in the crowd at Halton as Jonathan marches in with cap and gown. In June, he'll return to Indonesia to work for the family business.

It may not be the last UNCC has seen of Jonathan's family.

His younger sister is at CPCC.