'I am 65 years old, and I am not done yet': Georgia Southern graduates adapt, overcome

More than 2,000 Georgia Southern University students earned their degrees this month with many of them walking across the stage during the first in-person ceremonies of the year. 

One of those graduates received a Master’s degree after not attending college for more than 37 years. Following a 30-year career in sales and marketing, Darlene Williams, 65, decided to chase a new dream.

“I started substitute teaching in October 2013, and one of my first assignments was in a high school special education classroom,” she said. 

“That is all it took. I thought to myself, ‘This is where I am supposed to be.’”

Williams earned her bachelor’s in business administration from the University at Buffalo in 1981 and planned to eventually transition from the business world to teaching math. By 2015, she was teaching students who have moderate to severe disabilities at an elementary school in metro Atlanta, but wanted to pursue further opportunities to grow as a teacher.  

“I never wanted to invest in a master’s degree before because I didn’t have a reason to,” she said. 

Williams was able to continue working while pursuing her degree online through the university's College of Education. She completed her course work in July and walked across the stage at Paulson Stadium on the Statesboro Campus on Dec. 17.

Williams said her granddaughter, who lives in New York encouraged, her to walk at graduation. 

“Though Ariana cannot attend, I will have the support of my daughter, son, two grandsons, brother and brother-in-law and my sweetie,” Williams said. 

“I am 65 years old, and I am not done yet,” she added. “If that inspires others to know they can do it, then I am happy to be that inspiration for them.”

Fellow graduate Lee Ann Hitt also found herself back in college after a break. Enrolling after a 15-year hiatus because of health issues and then the loss of a scholarship, Hitt had had a rocky first-go attending college in her home state of Missouri.

Later after becoming a military spouse and mother to three children, she put her desire to return to college on the back burner. But after her husband was assigned to serve as an instructor in Georgia Southern’s Army ROTC program in 2018, she set her sights on her education. 

“This university was very different from the large university I originally attended in central Missouri,” Hitt said. 

“Like the rest of Statesboro, it is a community with a much more personal feel. Classes are smaller, there are more discussions and more group projects. People here care enough to invest in students personally, and that makes all the difference.”

The personal outreach was vital to her learning process in the beginning, as her husband was deployed to Fort Knox, Ky., for several months and she suffered a miscarriage and had to have surgery. 

History professor Michael Scott Van Wagenen reached out to Hitt.

“He got real with me, and he also gave me a pep talk,” she said. 

“He wrote out a coupon for ‘1 Free Mistake.’ Later, I won first place on both major class projects and earned an A-plus. We now jokingly call that coupon my Dumbo feather. I had what it took within me the whole time. I just needed confidence in myself.”

Earlier this year, Hitt was looking ahead to an internship with Fort Pulaski and the chance to present her research at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Intellectual Opportunities Symposium, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

In March, her children were sent home from school, and her external educational opportunities were put on hold. Mid-May, her grandfather died from complications from COVID, and her father fell ill from it. Through the turmoil, Hitt remained on track, taking five summer classes virtually, including an internship with Special Collections at Henderson Library, while still at home with her children. 

Hitt’s perseverance paid off with exemplary grades. She also received the History Department’s Jack and Addie Averitt Foundation Merit Scholarship and Max O’Neal Award, bestowed upon the student with the best history paper.

“I am extremely proud of myself for being able to complete my bachelor’s degree and finish strong with five consecutive semesters of straight As,” she said. 

“I am proud that I demonstrated dedication and the importance of an education and being a lifelong learner to my classmates and my children. The support of my husband and others in my community was essential."

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Jaisha Nivens was in high school when she and her three brothers relocated to Hinesville for her oldest brother’s military assignment at Fort Stewart.

“My older brother took us in because we were living in a bad situation,” Nivens said. “He was only 22 at the time, but he was a good role model. The experience humbled and shaped me.”

While attending Liberty County High School, Nivens participated in an Early Education Career Pathway, which provided experiences at local daycare centers and elementary schools. Once the program placed her in a third grade classroom, she knew it was where she wanted to be.

Nivens attended East Georgia State College for a year before transferring to Georgia Southern to complete her education courses and took on two day care assistant jobs to support herself. 

She then set her sights on Georgia Southern. 

“I always wanted to come to Georgia Southern,” she said. “I saw that the University had strong education programs, and I knew I would be better prepared for my job.”

Now that she has completed her studies at GS, she plans to move closer to her brothers, who resettled in Tampa. She has already lined up a position as a third grade teacher in the area and is studying to complete her Florida exams for teaching certification.

“I’ve always worked well with children,” she said, “and I am grateful for Georgia Southern giving me the other pieces to the puzzle to become a good teacher.”

Katie Nussbaum is the business reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at knussbaum@savannahnow.com. Twitter: KmartSMN