I decided to go back to college in 2016, eleven years after graduating high school. I had one year of college in the books while attending high school through post-secondary classes, but life took a few unexpected turns after that. Following a divorce and getting back on my feet, I decided it was time to fulfill my dream of a degree. It has not come easily. I found out I was pregnant with my third child the day I went back. My story is that no matter what happens, with God on your side, you can do anything. He strategically placed people like Professor Hedrick in my path. Professor Hedrick always checked in to see how I was doing balancing work, kids and school, and his class setup was accommodating for both traditional and non-traditional students like me! Then, when my one-year-old was having health problems, Professor Kalamas and Professor Stephens were there helping me along by giving me extra time to complete assignments and sending encouraging emails. One of my favorite things about AU is that you can be yourself. As a Christian, colleges often stifle your beliefs or force you into one way of thinking, and classes like Professors Turner and Ricketts’ religion courses allowed for me to achieve academically, but also to learn about my first love, God. I never thought as a single mom that I would ever be able to obtain a bachelor’s degree, but here I am with a little over a year left to go. God graciously put me in the right place with the right people at Ashland, so I could live out my dream.
