Making the decision to attend early college program at Southeastern Community College gave Austin Todd the best opportunity to achieve the long-term goals he had set for himself.  Transferring to the main campus while still a junior in high school he began working on a two-year associates degree

It has been times in my life that victory and self-esteem eluded me. Nothing I tried worked. I was starting to think happiness and success wasn’t meant for me. All of my peers had moved on in life and started careers and families, living their life to the fullest.

Everyone has a story and those stories have common themes; indeed, the human condition requires such. All humanity experiences love and hate; joy and consternation. Each and every soul shall encounter daunting obstacles in the pursuit of every endeavor.

In early 1990, I completed a year of Auburn's architectural program, but took a leave due to financial issues. Years passed. I worked, bought a car, got married, and bought a home. Life happened and my plan to return to Auburn faded. By 2012, I was at a crossroads: divorced and frustrated.

My time here at Central Carolina Community College has been nothing short of life changing. Like many adults or returning students, obtaining a college degree has been a lifelong desire of mine.

GTCC helped save my life. At 18, I joined the military, and as a result, suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Left untreated, it contributed to a tumultuous twenty years. On August 7, 2013, I woke up in a hospital, suffering a traumatic brain injury from a car accident.

Before I was a student at Wake Tech, I was unable and unqualified to work in jobs that gave me the satisfaction of being a valuable team member to create something amazing.

Earning a college degree has always been a goal of mine, one which seemed unattainable until I enrolled at ICC.

 I began to work at a minimum wage job straight out of high school, without any plans to continue my education, because that just wasn’t what people in my family did. The fact that I had even graduated High School was a bit of a miracle for us.

I began my college education in 2006 when I was an eighteen-year-old. After the first semester, I dropped out due to pregnancy. I got married and decided to stay at home with my son. Over the next few years, I worked several part-time jobs and had two more children.

Sierra Tuttle made the decision two years ago that she wanted to change her life.  After seven year break from school, she decided to enroll at Catawba Valley Community College.  With huge support from her family and her fiance Jeremy, she was able to stay on track and continue her studies.  Tutt

My success story began in 2015. I was a single mother, working a fast food job and I saw no future in what I was doing. I found out that I was pregnant in April of 2015, and I was forced into quitting my job for health reasons. During my pregnancy, I decided that I wanted to go back to school.

Working as a laboratory assistant was the starting point of Ric C.

When I began my journey at James Sprunt Community College, it was to earn an accounting diploma to make myself more marketable, but it became so much more. During the summer of 2017, I registered for an accounting diploma, something I could complete in one year.

The experience at Martin Community College has changed Amanda Vicks in ways she never thought possible.  Bring a part of this institution has given her a pathway that she credits with allowing her to reach her goal of being an accountant.  Vicks is very active in MCC serving in the Student Govern

My Stanly Community College journey began in January 2016. I was terrified and unsure of what to expect, especially since I had been out of school for ten years and I had a one-year-old daughter. Being a mom motivated me to be the best I could be.

Being diagnosed with asthma and anxiety disorder cut short the military career of Marian Corp Veteran Joshua G.

Yan Zhang has been living in the city of Kinston for five years now. In 2014, she enrolled at Lenoir Community College to learn English. Three years later, she decided to pursue an A.A.S. degree in Computer Engineering Technology.

Failure was never an option for Raydeijah Morning.  Struggling to select whether to go to a university or a community college Morning decided to enroll at Pamlico Community College.  Morning states that attending Pamlico CC has left her with no regrets and the staff is amazing.  Working two part-

As a native of Kenya, I learned English in elementary school and spent many other hours helping my mother on our small-scale farm. We grew maize, Napier grass, passion fruits, and kept cows, sheep, and chickens. of about 15 acres. But I had great ambitions of becoming an engineer and athlete.

Laura Caitlin Ritchie finally discovered that her true calling was nursing.  Having to balance work, school, finances, family and life in general, Ritchie saw how affordable Carteret Community College was and the scholarships and financial aid offered through the financial aid department.  The fa

I am a thirty years old and the mother of two boys, ages ten and three. After graduating high school in 2006, college seemed like an unreachable goal. I began working instead of pursuing my passion to be an artist. In 2008, my high school sweetheart and I, had our first child together.

Born on in Wilson County, and raised there on the family farm John "Bryant" Ballance has developed a passion for agriculture.  Working on the family farm throughout high school and being involved in Farmers of America Ballance decided to enroll at Wayne Community College and earn a degree in Agri

I graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Building a career after the financial crisis was very difficult so I never actually had a job that needed such a high level of education.

Erin Peyton Jones many times has found herself reflecting on the words of Thomas Edison: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.

“My family is a walking advertisement for Central Carolina Community College,” said Kimberly Neiss, a single mother of 10.

Neiss and five of her children have all graduated from or are still attending the college.

In during her senior year in high school, Sarah Elizabeth Shepherd made the decision to become dually enrolled in the RIBN Program through Wilkes Community College and Lenoir-Rhyne University.  Taking several WCC classes during high school did not prepare Shepherd for how involved she could becom

When I was expecting my second child, I looked at my life and wanted more for my children. I decided to go to A-B Tech. I knew the only way I would be able to give them the life they deserved was by going back to school.

Not having taken classes for the past 15 years made going back to school very scary for Kimberly Sheppard.  Entering Richmond Community College at the age of thirty-three was a decision that would change Sheppard's life and also her perspective on life itself.  The reason for the delay in getting

Erin Pruitt of Lawndale is the 2015 Academic Excellence Award winner at Cleveland Community College. Pruitt is graduating with an Associate of Applied Science in Radiography and holds a 3.85 grade point average.

Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska Emily West-Furey at the age of 19 moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina in 2010 with her husband.  For the next 5 years, she devoted her time to building and focusing on a family and raising her daughter while her husband was deployed.  In 2015 Fuery-West decide