Ashlyn VanKampen

I am not only a first-generation student, but I am a nontraditional student as well. Out of high school I attended Virginia Tech and excelled as a freshman. No one in my family had ever gone to college before, so I had no roadmap” of how to successfully navigate tough classes extracurriculars and work. My family was excited for me but did not know how to support me emotionally and they did not have the ability to support me financially. Unfortunately, the pressures of working full time while in school were too heavy and I was no longer achieving the grades I knew myself to be capable of. In the Spring of my junior year I decided to withdraw from school because my grade point average continued to fall and I was no longer making school a priority. After struggling to provide for myself for two years, I finally decided to try going back to school. I am now 24 years old and living on my own so I must hold down a full-time job which made it difficult to take traditional classes on campus. I applied to ODU’;s online program with the hopes of just finishing my degree. I was unsure of how successful I would be because online classes take much discipline and motivation and after working all day I was fearful that I would not make as much time for my schoolwork as I should. Fortunately, I have greatly surprised myself! I am a full-time student and I still work full-time. To top it off, I not only made Dean’s List my first semester back in school but I earned a 4.0 grade point average! Because of my academic achievement, I have been inducted into the Transfer Student Honor Society Tau Sigma as well as an Honor Fraternity on campus. When I began this journey a second time, I had hoped to just get by but once I received great feedback on assignments and worked hard to achieve A’s on exams I was hungry and eager to make Dean’s List. Because of my determination, I accomplished more than that! I just received my certificate in the mail for “Academic Perfection” and it will be hung on the wall above my desk to remind me that I am capable of more than just passing. I am capable of perfection!