During high school there was no other option: I was going to college. But my dreams were thrown into confusion during my junior year of high school, when my father was laid off. With him being the only working person in the house, my college dreams began to slip away. But I stayed determined and [...]

I am currently a junior at Cornell University, working toward a bachelor’s degree in international agriculture and rural development with a concentration in social development and livelihoods. From the time I was a child, I knew above all else that my parents expected me to graduate high school and go to college. There was never [...]

In 2006 I became a single parent, after 20 years of marriage. I had finally worked up the courage to leave an abusive relationship and begin a new life with my children. This was unfamiliar territory to me. I had not worked a full-time job for many years; I’d earned an associate’s degree after high [...]

I’m a 62 year old veteran who has worked his whole life building our country. I have also been working on my education
since 1967, when I graduated from Forest View High School. For these past 43 years, I’ve been slowly moving toward my degree. At my age, a degree is a requirement for employment—a software [...]

I am what millions of Americans are becoming today in light of our economy: I am a non-traditional student. I attend Buena Vista University through the accelerated professional program, and am working toward my bachelor’s in both psychology and human services, with minors in sociology, education and client delivered services. I am a married mom [...]