We strive to help our students grow and succeed. Explore our students' stories below.
- Hometown: Salem, VA
- Are you a current student in the program or an alumni?
Alumni
- Graduation Year from ADP
2024
- How did you enter the Adult Degree Program?
Original ADP Application
- Degree Earned & Concentration
Bachelor of Individualized Study Major in Individualized Study Concentration in Early Childhood Education Development
- Please list a fun fact about yourself!
My favorite food is pickles!
- Tell us about your success story & include your background and journey to ADP (previously attended institutions, military, etc.)
Right after high school, I went to community college to become a teacher or daycare director. After my first year there, I had to step away from that and raise my first daughter. My education was put on the back burner for several years while I become a Stay at home mom for my 3 daughters. When they were all in school and thriving, I started working in the school system to make some extra money for the family. I knew my heart was always in the classroom but at that time, I didn't have the support to go back to school. My dreams were put on hold for almost 20 years. After a huge life change, I had the support and encouragement from my husband, parents and coworkers to take a look into what I had left to succeed with my goal. Covid hit and everything was online so I thought "Why not?" Well....after completing my course work at Community College, I was accepted into James Madison University. I was so doubtful of myself. Working a full time job, keeping up with the family and juggling school work was not an easy task but I accomplished it with better grades than I ever imagined! I graduated with a 4.0 gpa for my bachelors! This accomplishment is one I never thought would happen in my life, much less to the capacity I did! I was offered a job at the same school I was currently an Instructional Assistant as well as the one where I went to school myself! I am so blessed to work in an environment where I am supported and encouraged to keep chasing my dreams!
- What are your next steps/future plans?
I plan to graduate with my masters in Education with Teacher Leadership Concentration this spring. My teaching career started this past fall and I will continue teaching 2nd grade with some of the best coworkers in the world!
- Who is someone that supported you throughout your time in the Adult Degree Program?
My husband, my 3 daughters and my parents were huge supports to me! I couldn't have done any of this without them! They sat through family dinners with me on zoom, understood when I couldn't come to a game, or was fine with peanut butter and jelly for dinner if I had too much on my plate that night! I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best educators there are! One particular pushed me to go back to school and has cheered me on through this journey, Mary Ellen Collier. Some of the other teachers who have made this possible for me would be Kyle Highfill, Katie Crotts, Bronwyn Thomas, and Summer Custer. These are some of the best rockstar teachers there ever was! I also became very close with some cohorts from my BIS program. Lou Ann Leonard, Rebecca Hancock and Alexandra Cromwell were there from the start and they are still cheering me!
- What is a tip you would give to current students in the program?
Don't give up! It is worth it in the long run! These professors are there to help and support your journey, use them as great resources
- Hometown: Grottoes, VA. Originally from Saudi Arabia
- Are you a current student in the program or an alumni?
Alumni
- Graduation Year from ADP
2024
- How did you enter the Adult Degree Program?
Return to Madison
- Degree Earned & Concentration
Science and Education
- Please list a fun fact about yourself!
I played soccer professionally when I was in high school.
- Tell us about your success story & include your background and journey to ADP (previously attended institutions, military, etc.)
I originally attended JMU for undergrad in 2013. I soon realized that college life is totally different from anything that I ever experienced. I found myself working hard at the beginning but eventually I started to hangout with the wrong crowd. I started to drink a lot and started skipping classes. During my last semester (Fall 2017) I hit rock bottom and I just quit going to school because I was just lost.
Fast forward to 2018, I met my now wife who actually helped me turn my life around. I started to work in middle school as a teacher assistant. I grew to love this job, that's how I found out about ADP to finish my degree and become a teacher. I'm very grateful for everyone who believed in me and am very appreciative of the opportunity. ADP was just the place I needed to be to get where I wanted to.
- What are your next steps/future plans?
I have applied for my first teaching job and I'm going to teach starting next school year :)
- Who is someone that supported you throughout your time in the Adult Degree Program?
My wife Heather. She helped me apply to the program and helped every step of the way to the day I graduated.
- What is a tip you would give to current students in the program?
Don't be afraid to take a chance on yourself. This program will work for you and around your schedule. Most classes if not all are online. Ask questions because ADP staff and advisors are always happy to help.
- Hometown: Roanoke, Virginia
- Are you a current student in the program or an alumni?
Current Student
- Graduation Year from ADP
2025
- How did you enter the Adult Degree Program?
JMU Employee
- Degree Earned & Concentration
Communications & Human Resource Development
- Please list a fun fact about yourself!
I love animals! Right now, we're getting ready to get goats and we have a mini-Shetland Pony named Daisy May, a beagle-dachshund mix named Cricket, and two bunnies Baxter and Bubba. Since my kids were little, we've also had a hermit crab, fish, hamsters, ducks, chickens, and a turkey.
- Tell us about your success story & include your background and journey to ADP (previously attended institutions, military, etc.)
I attended Longwood University from 2001-2004 and took a break due to a combination of burn out and declining grades. I spent 15+ years working in retail banking, investments and insurance before making a career change to work in the Finance Department at JMU and applying to the Adult Degree Program to complete my degree. I was very nervous about going back to school even through not finishing my degree was a big regret of mine and I had thought about applying to a program many different times over the years but always talked myself out of it.
I am so glad that I made this choice for myself.
- What are your next steps/future plans?
I graduate this Spring, and this Fall I'll be starting the Adult Education and Human Resource Development graduate program at JMU. I've learned along the way that I'm truly fascinated by the concept of Adult Learning, and I was surprised at how many people are working on completing a degree in their 40's. The Adult Degree Program transformed my thinking on both continued education for myself as well as how I've approached my college aged daughter's educational journey. I wish someone had told me at her age that its ok to not have all the answers, to not know exactly what you want to do, that you don't have to take 18 credits a semester or graduate on a four-year plan, because not everyone is the same and progress, growth, and hard work is what is important!
- Who is someone that supported you throughout your time in the Adult Degree Program?
My husband and kids have been so supportive during my ADP journey. They even held things down at home last summer for two weeks without me so that I could go on the ADP study abroad to Germany.
- What is a tip you would give to current students in the program?
It is NEVER too late to learn! Take your time and go at your own pace because everyone learns using different methods and at different speeds.
Figure out what works for you and do that--over and over, until you succeed!
- Hometown: Lynchburg, Virginia
- Are you a current student in the program or an alumni?
Current Student
- Graduation Year from ADP
August, 2025
- How did you enter the Adult Degree Program?
Original ADP Application
- Degree Earned & Concentration
BIS - Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE)
- Please list a fun fact about yourself!
I'm the mom of Irish Twins (Born almost exactly one year apart).
- Tell us about your success story & include your background and journey to ADP (previously attended institutions, military, etc.)
I graduated high school in 2012, one year earlier than planned, (so my grandmother, who was very ill, could attend my high school graduation). I started attending classes at Central Virginia Community College while in my senior year of high school. I became a sort of "jack of all trades" when it came to my education. I had so many interests, but nothing felt like the perfect fit. In 2015, I got married and moved with my husband out of state to follow a career opportunity that was too good to pass up. I had every intention of enrolling in the community college we moved close to, but life had other plans. I was caught up in being a newlywed and was working for a company that I truly loved as a catering supervisor. Life had a funny way of showing me exactly what I needed at that time in my life. When we were transferred to Georgia, I had to give up my catering position because the company I worked for did not have any accounts in the area I was moving to. This was a hard blow for me, but it lead me to my calling. In February 2017, I started working at a private preschool in Georgia. This is where I fell in love with early childhood education and knew that I had finally found my perfect career. I was ready to go back to school to earn my education degree. However, life gave me what I needed more than a degree, it gave me a child. I became a mother in 2019, and again just one year later in 2020. (I LOVE my Irish twins) I was raising infants (one who had several health concerns of his own) in the start of a global pandemic. My love for education only grew stronger. Not only did I have my school kids, but I had my own tiny humans to teach as well. We moved back to our hometown in Virginia in 2022 to have the opportunity to raise our kids closer to family. After many life changes, I was at a fork in the road. I decided that I was not living up to my full potential. I had a desire to be a licensed educator for many years, and I was finally ready to embark on this educational journey. This journey came with its own set of hardships, anxiety, and moments of questioning. However, it also gifted me, confidence, knowledge, and a sense of pride. Life may have had a different timeline for me, but the adult degree program gave me the opportunity to reach a goal that younger me would have found impossible.
- What are your next steps/future plans?
I plan to take a small break to celebrate my accomplishments, and then to start working towards a Master's degree (concentration TBD).
- Who is someone that supported you throughout your time in the Adult Degree Program?
I had so many wonderful people to support me during this time. However, my mother and grandmother were always there to make sure my children did not miss out on opportunities and one on one attention while I was in classes at night.
- What is a tip you would give to current students in the program?
You're doing amazing things. I know how hard you are working to reach your goals, and I am proud of you!
- Hometown: Madison, Virginia
- Are you a current student in the program or an alumni?
Current Student
- Graduation Year from ADP
2026
- How did you enter the Adult Degree Program?
Original ADP Application
- Degree Earned & Concentration
BIS - Elementary Education (ELED)
- Please list a fun fact about yourself!
I love concerts/live music, food and animals!
- Tell us about your success story & include your background and journey to ADP (previously attended institutions, military, etc.)
Growing up, I had always wanted and planned to be a dental hygienist. After high school I, for some crazy reason, was not interested in going away to college. I was a small town girl who never really liked being too far away from home. I found a dental assisting program at Germanna Community College and was accepted the fall after graduating high school in 2020. I had a very odd end to high school and beginning of my freshman college year due to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. My core classes at Germanna were all online until spring of 2022, when I began my in-person dental assisting courses. Only the second week into the program, my family came down with Covid-19 and I had to quarantine and miss a week of class. Having this happen right at the beginning and just feeling like I was already so far behind I was feeling so overwhelmed and stressed when I went back the next week. I had also learned a lot about the field that made me nervous and not as interested. Class drop deadlines were the next day after I went back from quarantine, and I made the difficult decision to drop out. I felt so lost because all of my life growing up, this is what my mind was set on doing as a career for the rest of my life. I felt like with the pandemic and at that point in time, not too sure of what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. I took a small break from school to figure out what was next.
I was looking for a job close to home and a high school friend mentioned our hometown early learning center was hiring. Prior to this, I had only worked food and customer service jobs so it was new. However, I always loved working with kids and I felt like I just had a natural "kid magnet" attached to me because at every function my family went to, the kids always stuck to me, while the animals hung out with my sister. I also thought about how I did service learning in high school and how much I loved helping with the younger kids in the classroom for a period every day. I took the early learning center job and the rest was easy. I knew instantly, this job was meant for me and why the dental path did not work out for me.
A friend of mine at the learning center job, was going to school to become a teacher while working full time, all online through Laurel Ridge Community College, formally known as Lord Fairfax Community College. She helped me to get set up on the right track and I started my teacher education journey at Laurel Ridge in the fall of 2022. I graduated from Laurel Ridge with my Education AA&S a year later in fall semester of 2023. Laurel Ridge partnered with a lot of four year university to offer guaranteed transfer agreements. Now, I was stuck trying to pick the best option. It ultimately got down to Western Governors University, Liberty University and JMU.
Out of the schools I was most interested in, JMU, showed me the most kindness and respect of all universities I contacted and were very thorough, helpful and honest. I was also considering cost as a factor, and with JMU's Adult Degree Program you are offered a reduced tuition rate. I am so incredibly happy that I found such a rewarding career that makes me feel so happy and loved! I have been nothing but pleased with the JMU Adult Degree Program and everyone at JMU that has helped me along the way. Having this awesome opportunity to still go to a big name four-year university, while being able to work a full time job is a lot, but if theres one thing I would tell anyone who is thinking if possibly going back to school- DO IT! You will be so glad you did!
- What are your next steps/future plans?
I plan to graduate on course track time in December of 2026 and hope to have my own classroom for that 2026-2027 school year! I cannot wait!
- Who is someone that supported you throughout your time in the Adult Degree Program?
My little sister has supported me all throughout my journey. She is my personal cheerleader and I couldn't do it without her motivation.
- What is a tip you would give to current students in the program?
A tip I would give to current students in the program is to not procrastinate. The workload is a lot more manageable if you allow yourself to do it in increments.
Adult Degree Program
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