BATON ROUGE - An LSU graduate's story of conquering hardship is resonating with people all across the country as members of the class of 2018 prepare to collect their degrees in May.

Last week, 26-year-old Lauren Blake shared a graduation photo on Facebook along with a summary of her journey to earn her degree in 2017.

Blake's story goes over her rough start in high school, where she had to repeat the ninth grade and finished with a 1.5 GPA, as well as well as her time at community college in North Carolina. Along with the academic struggles, Blake says she had to contend with some tragic shake-ups in her life, including the death of her boyfriend at age 21.

"I’m sharing my story just to show that failure and pain is a part of the process," Blake's post read.

About 70,000 people have reacted to Blake's post and more than 20,000 have shared her story.

The class of 2018 is scheduled to graduate in May.