At URock and the broader UMA community, there is no shortage of amazing success stories from Alumni who continue to make UMA proud through their grit and perseverance.
This week, we would like to shine a spotlight on Anna Carpenter, a two-time Knox County Legislative Memorial Scholarship winner and a recent URock grad. Of her time at UMA, Carpenter says:
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to return to school, so I started with an Adult Education class. I did so well that the instructor asked me to take her second-level course at UMA. I was very hesitant, as I swore I would never go back to school. It was fear that kept me away, and the belief I wasn’t smart enough, and I was too old (48 at the time).
Over the past five years (yup, took me five), I have learned so much about myself. It turns out that I am very smart! I have a strong desire to learn and feed my brain. After some practice, I learned how to budget my time, discipline myself with my assignments, ask for help when I needed it, and keep pushing forward no matter how hard it felt.
I ended up excelling in my journey at UMA. I have become a very strong woman; I have the utmost confidence in myself now and know that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. I feel very capable of reaching any goal that I give myself.
I plan to apply what I’ve learned in my time at UMA and take it to the next level by applying to graduate school. I’m definitely nervous, but also very excited because I know that I can do the work and be successful thanks to UMA.”
Thank you, Anna, for sharing your journey and being such a wonderful part of the UMA Rockland Community!
