For many students, the 12-year journey to high school graduation seems like a lifetime.

For Bobby Vogel, it has been a lifetime.

Last Sunday, the 67-year-old man was honored at Auburn High School’s commencement ceremony with an honorary diploma in recognition of his contributions to the school.

“It was so much fun,” said the gregarious Vogel, an active volunteer and beloved friend to many students and staff. “I really thought it was the greatest thing I did in my life.”

For the past 25 years, Vogel has been a constant at Trojan sporting events, the school’s No. 1 fan. He roams the sidelines with the football team in the fall, wearing the green letterman’s jacket bought for him by grateful students. In the winter, he’s in the gym, helping to manage the varsity basketball team, rarely missing a game or practice.

His involvement with the school goes beyond his participation with Auburn’s athletic teams.

“He stops by every day in the morning and usually in the afternoon,” Auburn principal Richard Zimmerman said. “He checks up on everybody in the office and then goes out into the campus after school lets out, and visits with the students and teachers. We tried to figure out just how much time he puts in volunteering, and when we got to 10,000 hours, we stopped counting.”

And although Vogel has put in more time at the school than any student, he never got the opportunity to actually attend school.

Vogel, who is originally from Omaha, Neb., said he moved to the area when he was 2.

Because of his developmental disability, he was never given an opportunity to attend school, let alone graduate.

When Zimmerman found this out back in February, he immediately set the wheels in motion for an honorary degree.

“We started having conversations with the (administration) team here to explore and see if we could do something like awarding him an honorary diploma,” Zimmerman said. “It’s funny because about the same time I got a phone call from Gordie O’Dell, director of student services, about the superintendent inquiring about giving Bobby an honorary degree. It jibed really well because that was my next step, asking the superintendent if we could give one.”

It was new territory for the school, which had never awarded an honorary degree in its 110-year history.

“There was no policy, no protocol,” Zimmerman said.

After working with O’Dell to set parameters to award an honorary degree, Zimmerman presented his proposal to Superintendent Kip Herren and the Auburn School Board.

“Everybody was 100 percent behind it,” Zimmerman said. “Everybody thought it was a really neat thing to do.”

In May, when Zimmerman announced to the student body that Vogel would be graduating with the senior class, the students thought it was really neat, too.

“He was presented with the cap and gown and the sash that you wear,” Zimmerman said. “And you couldn’t hear yourself scream after that. Everybody was on their feet. I started with talking about everything Bobby does for the school, and he got a standing ovation. Then when I told them he was actually going to be graduating with them, it got even louder. It was really cool.”

In addition to his degree, members of the senior class also chipped in to buy Vogel a class ring.

“The only thing that’s different between all the other graduates and Bobby is that he’s coming back in the fall,” Zimmerman said. “We’re not letting him go.”

And that’s just fine with Vogel, who will celebrate his 68th birthday in July.

“It’s a pretty good school,” Vogel said. “I like it a lot.”