“I am a non-traditional student, and also suffer from a mental health disability, so school was very difficult for me and I thought I had exhausted my options for finishing my degree until the Completion Team contacted me. I’m very thankful that now I can call myself a graduate! Everything was handled very smoothly by Dr. Newton and I felt empowered to finally finish. This is a great program, don’t hesitate to take part!”

“In 2014 I was a student athlete with 3 classes left in order to finish my degree; that same year I got a job with intention to finish my degree. Eventually my new job took precedence over my education. As time went on, I started at a new logistic company and have been climbing the corporate ladder even since. The weight of finishing my degree lingered and when Maggie called me and asked me if I wanted to finish we sat down together to go over what I needed to finish she said something that stuck with me; “why let all this hard work go to waste.” She was referring to my already finished classes because I had been almost done with my degree for 8 years. The thing was no one ever put it to me quite that way. Going back to school filled me with a lot of fear. I recently became a single mom and I work 50 hours a week on swing shift. It took a lot for me to come back and finish my degree because it meant time away from my child, but in the end with the help of my family and Maggie’s words, I was able to complete my classes with A’s and FINALLY become a WOU college graduate.”

“When I started the trek to reach my undergraduate degree in 2011, I had freshly turned 18, and though I was able to accomplish so much during my Freshman year, my Sophomore year brought sudden trauma and tragedy; the consequences, therefore, lead me to reconfigure to values, my priorities, and I ended up transferring to PSU. Since 2013, I tried my hardest to continue my education, with as much grit as I could muster. But after struggling with my mental health, and after I had finally managed to make my way back to WOU in 2017, I walked away from campus, believing that there was no possibility that I could finish my degree, with my low GPA.

However.

There came a point, in 2020, when I got in contact with a dear professor of mine, one whose tutelage I had received during my shining freshman year and he suggested that I make an appointment with an advisor to discuss my options; to which, I finally agreed. There is no way that I can express the tide of emotion that came over me, when my degree completion advisor explained that I could graduate after I had completed 9 more credits. Needless to say, I re-applied myself, and went through all of the proper steps to be enrolled again for the final time, Winter 2022.

The morning of March 13 th 2022, I woke my partner up to witness the submission of my final assignment; the last one I would ever submit as an undergraduate. After a decade of starting the path to reaching my Bachelor’s degree, I completed my term with flying colors and joyous tears streaming down my face.

Now, I can say I finally did it.
I am a first generation college graduate.
I am a success story.”

“As a non-traditional student, I had a difficult time completing my degree due to raising children. I unfortunately needed to take a break from attending classes and that break ended up being 10+ years. After many years, I struggled with the confidence to return to school and finish my degree. Once the Degree Completion team reached out to me and explained some options for me to return and complete my degree, I was more motivated than ever to finish this goal that I’ve had for a long time. Without the Degree Completion team, I would not have had the confidence and motivation to return to complete my degree. This has been a great experience for me and I am thankful that I can now tell my children I have officially graduated from WOU. “

“Everyone involved in assisting me to finish my degree was knowledgeable, quick to respond when I had questions and really worked in unison very well. It was a very smooth and efficient process and I can’t thank you enough for reaching out to me.”