Stephanie Eaton

I attended community college after barely graduating from my small, rural High School because I had no knowledge of any other opportunities available to me. As a low-income, first generation college student, I was daunted by my classes due to a lack of adequate study skills, and I severely lacked the abilities required to successfully navigate the complex institutional framework of academia. When I enrolled, I had no strategies for graduation, and selected my first semester of classes based on what “sounded fun”, which is what landed me in Doctor Paula Clarke and Professor Ted Hamilton’s Cultural Geography and Cultural Anthropology course.

Throughout my first 2 to 3 years at Columbia College, I unsurprisingly failed almost every class I took because I never studied or did my homework. I felt severely inadequate and out of place because my public high school education in no way prepared me to have meaningful dialogue in my classes, ask complex questions, correctly take notes, independently study course material, or even read a textbook correctly. After 3 years of being caught in a cycle of signing up for courses and failing them, I knew I had to either start performing better in school, or drop out – an option I wasn’t particularly keen on. I decided that I was ready to try and make a change, even though I didn’t know what that meant or where to begin.

One of the main reasons I kept signing up for classes, even though I was fairly certain I wouldn’t pass them, was a glimmer of hope that I could eventually be successful. Every semester, I enrolled in at least one class with Professor Hamilton or Doctor Clarke because I enjoyed attending their class and listening to the knowledge they had to share. Even though I never submitted assignments, I liked the books they assigned, I liked the Socratic dialogue in class, I enjoyed asking questions in office hours, and I was highly impressed by and enjoyed the company of my peers. Perhaps most importantly, I liked how much I felt respected, encouraged, and supported in their classes. Even though I could have easily been dismissed and discounted as a “lost cause”, Ted and Paula always treated me the exact same way as the students who were receiving A’s.

With Ted and Paula’s utmost support, even though I was terrified, I decided to try and change my study habits, start formulating goals, and to learn to navigate the college system. I was driven by an idea I’d heard many times from Ted and Paula – "if I could be successful in their courses, I could be successful anywhere". It sounded simple enough, so with 14 'F’s on my transcript and nothing to lose, I decided to give it a try.

It took 3 more years at Columbia College to make up all of my failing grades and complete the required coursework to transfer, for a total of 6 years at community college. I slowly made up all my failing grades, and was granted academic renewal for the ones I couldn’t re-take due to multiple failures. Ted and Paula supported and guided me during my entire journey, including the many times I wanted to give up because it was so frustrating and difficult. I was empowered by Ted and Paula’s support and by the euphoric feeling of having been successful, which felt well earned and miraculous, because I truly never believed it to be possible.

Immediately after graduating Columbia College, I transferred to University of California, Davis, where I earned a B.A. in Sociology and graduated with Highest Honors. During my time at UC Davis, I worked as a tutor on campus, as a Program Coordinator at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and as a researcher within the department of Sociology. In all of these roles, I worked directly with students to assist them in achieving their personal, educational, and professional goals. The support, guidance, and confidence provided to me by Ted, Paula, and the other mentors I met throughout my educational career inspired me to find my true passion, which is assisting students to achieve their goals in higher education – particularly at a community college, or adult continuing education level.

I now work for the UC Davis Extension Center for Professional Education as a Program Coordinator, where I work with adults looking to advance their professional and personal lives through adult continuing education. I owe all of my successes to the mentors I met throughout my college career, and it brings me great joy to be able to assist and support others in achieving their educational goals in the same way I was supported to achieve mine. I plan to earn a Master’s degree and ultimately, a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) so that I can have the opportunity to continue to work in higher education to offer support and improve educational pathways for students to have more explicit steps to the degree or field of their choice.

Department of Sociology, UC Davis