A common theme among students at SCC is the strength and commitment they demonstrate from the months leading up to the first day of college to the day they walk across the stage.
Erin Wagner of Donnellson is a prime example of one of these students.
Having paused her education journey once she passed her high school equivalency test, Wagner sat down with her parents for a life-changing talk.
“I was very fortunate to have parents who said you’ve got some choices to make,” she shares. “You can have a hard two years or you can have a hard life.”
This clicked with her and she took her steps through the front doors of the Keokuk campus office to get started on her new chapter. As is the case with many students, those first steps weren’t easy.
“I have not had a single assignment or a single test that has been harder than that decision to walk in and say, ‘I want to do this,’” she reminisced. “You just have to decide that this is what you want.”
That may have been the hardest moment of Wagner’s education journey. Her experience while at SCC involved immense support from people around her. Wagner shared a secret motivator that helped her along the way.
“I kept two cards in my backpack. One is from my grandmother and one is from my husband. And I carried those in the pocket of my backpack everyday since I started school. Inside those cards it says, ‘I know you can do this.’”
Another motivator? Four children, two under the age of 5.
She and her husband I took opposite shifts to support the family and work around her class schedule; she took three classes each semester to keep her responsibilities manageable.
Wagner’s final motivator: SCC employees.
“I never met a person who works for this college that does not have a vested interest in me,” she says. “It doesn’t matter if they’ve met me. It doesn’t matter if they know me. They want me to do well.”
The 2020 spring semester presented unimaginable hurdles, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world. Classes were forced online at the last minute, each day brought about new challenges, and the uncertainty of what events would look like in coming weeks weighed heavily on everyone’s minds.
The traditional commencement ceremonies were canceled in May, but college officials wanted to celebrate the remarkable class that pushed through such a bizarre end to their college experience. They polled the class of 2020 asking if they wanted a virtual ceremony in May, or a possible in person event at a later date.
They overwhelmingly voted to wait.
Once public event restrictions were lifted, organizers jumped into action to plan a social distance-friendly event.
The significance of the ceremony was huge for Wagner.
“I’ve never had a graduation,” Wagner shared days before the ceremony took place.
On August 1, Wagner and her fellow grads from each campus had their day in the limelight to celebrate their hard work.
