When Angela Thomas was a little girl, she brought home a form from school and asked her grandmother for help. It was then that she discovered something she hadn’t known. Her grandmother, who had left school in the second grade to work in the fields, could barely read or write.
But what her grandmother lacked in formal education, she made up for in something far more enduring: a belief that the generations following her could have opportunities she never did.
Angela carried that belief with her, even when life took her down roads she never imagined.
A mother at 14, a high school dropout, and a woman who endured years of hardship, loss, and difficult choices, Angela spent much of her life questioning whether the dreams she held were meant for someone like her.
Regardless, she held tight to her grandmother’s belief and persevered despite any doubts that loomed.
Angela made the bold decision to pursue college in her fiftie. At a time when many of her friends were slowing down, Angela was busier than ever – weaving coursework into an already busy schedule. She also became a graduate of Self Help’s Getting Ahead program, continuing to build a future she was beginning to believe in again.
And this past May, at 54 years old, Angela stood before the graduating Class of 2026 at Technical College of the Lowcountry. Not only had she earned her degree in Business Administration, she had been chosen to deliver the commencement address.
“My beginning does not get to decide my ending.”
Somewhere in that audience was the legacy of a grandmother who never had the chance to finish school, but never stopped believing in what education could make possible.
And standing at the podium was her granddaughter, living proof that a story can take an unexpected turn at any age.
As Angela reminded her fellow graduates, “I choose to break cycles. I choose to rewrite my story. And I’m just getting started.”
