As a single mother of three children, I always knew that my high school diploma was never going to be enough. High school was always a challenge for me, so the idea of college was daunting.

In 2010, I lost my partner after a four and a half year battle with breast cancer. A few years later, I decided to sell our company and begin the journey into a new career. This involved going back to college at the age of 40.

As a child in Texas, Jeremy Jackson was designated as a special needs student. He graduated high school and came to Asheville not knowing what his future held.

As a young adult fresh out of high school with the dwarfism condition known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, I was uncertain of my future.