This is the second in the “Pathway Series” of stories on Jeremiah Espersen, a retired Army sergeant pursuing a teaching degree. Read Part 1 here, which covered Espersen’s military career, his move to Yulee, Florida to attend Trinity Baptist College, and his...
This is the second in the “Pathway Series” of stories on Melissa Shank, an adult learner in Orlando who is pursuing her bachelor’s degree 20 years after dropping out of high school. Read Part 1 here, which addressed Shank’s legal troubles during her 20’s and her...
“The idea of college was always just an idea.” These days, college is very much a reality of Destiny Jedlicka’s life. This month, Jedlicka begins her final class at Orlando’s Valencia College in order to complete her associate’s degree in general studies. Earlier this...
As she begins her first semester at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Cristina Cruz is well aware she is embarking on a path her parents didn’t get a chance to follow. Cruz, 18, is a native of Mexico City and part of the first-generation in her family to...
Throughout the course of his 21-year career in the U.S. Army, Jeremiah Espersen got accustomed to being told precisely where to go, what to eat, and even when to go to the bathroom. So after filing his retirement paperwork earlier this year, Espersen found himself...