At Waukesha County Technical College, more than 40 percent of students are nontraditional, meaning they are older than age 25. Their road to education may have been postponed or interrupted for any number of reasons, among them full-time work, caregiving responsibilities or a change in career. Class of 2021 Human Resources graduate Jasmine Freeman is one of those students. Learn more of her story and the path that brought her to WCTC.
While Jasmine Freeman was in high school, she started working at Arby’s and quickly moved up the ranks to become general manager of her own store, overseeing day-to-day operations.
During this time, she earned her certified nursing assistant (CNA) credential at WCTC – and had a short stint in healthcare – and later dabbled in a few accounting classes, but ultimately chose full-time work over college. She switched jobs in 2016 and became a 911 telecommunicator for Waukesha County, and later, the 911 Communication Center supervisor.
In her restaurant and telecommunications roles, she honed her leadership and management skills, which heavily influenced what she did next.
"I like to be a part of the change and influence others – in a healthy, productive, positive manner – to do the same," she said, and she enrolled in WCTC’s Human Resources program.
The wisdom of being an older student
Returning to college at 32, Freeman worried she wouldn’t belong and questioned if it was too late: "It felt like, ‘no, girl. You already got your chance,’" she said, but she eventually embraced her older student status.
She drew upon life events from her young adulthood – from losing jobs, to breakups, to falling down and getting back up – to shape her experience and share wisdom with younger classmates.
"When I scraped the dirt off my knees and enrolled yet again at WCTC, I saw it as a platform for me to finally use those experiences as ammo to move the heck forward," she said.
And move forward, she did, earning her associate degree and three certificates at WCTC in 2021, and a certificate and bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Freeman said WCTC helped her believe in herself and realize she was deserving of the many rewards that are the result of hard work and a solid education."
WCTC was the first place that really made me put (myself) first and understand that I was worth a lot as long as I knew that and did something with it," she said.
From WCTC Impact, Spring 2024