������Ƶ

More than two decades earlier, Jackson had enrolled at Howard University to pursue a degree in early childhood education but her studies “got interrupted with life,” she said, referring to the birth of her daughter, whom she raised alone. Still, for years, the desire to get a degree gnawed at her.

“Then in 2013, my daughter passed away in a car accident. She had a one-and-a-half-year-old son, and my husband and I decided to raise him. Then a year and a half later, my husband passed away,” she said. ‘I thought, ‘I have this toddler here and I’m doing this by myself. I have to make some changes.’

“I started thinking that there was a message in all this, that God was telling me to go back to school and use that degree to help people who have gone through the same tragedy as I have,” she added.

Studying psychology was, in many ways, cathartic after so much wrenching loss. It helped her navigate grief again when, a year after she began the UMGC program, her father died.

“I had been daddy’s girl. He was my confidant. He and I had shared everything,” she said. “Studying psychology gave me a perspective on myself and other people. 

As a grandmother raising a young child while working full time as an event planner, Jackson faced many challenges. UMGC’s flexibility allowed her to stretch out her studies. She took eight years to complete the program.

“Were there days when I cried? Yes. But I turned those tears into triumph, which was so much bigger,” she said. “I did it! I made it through because I had wonderful professors who were always there for me.”