在休伦校区的一间教室里，22岁的BGSU消防学生Miah Pearson微笑着.

By Patrick Pfanner

Miah Pearson ’22 knows what it’s like to start anew.

By her count, 这位BGSU的学生在俄亥俄州和德克萨斯州的不同机构至少上了四次大学.

皮尔森于今年4月毕业，获得了技术与应用博天堂官方网站学士学位. 她并不是唯一一个选择非传统途径获得大学学位的人. 所谓的传统大学生——年龄在18-22岁之间——只是学生群体的一部分.

Pearson is a 2009 Sandusky High School graduate. She has a son, Cruz Henson, 6, and is engaged to DaQuez Davis.

“This has been such a journey,” Pearson said. “我觉得很有成就感，因为我一直在朝着这个目标努力. 我在生活中停下脚步，开始做很多事情，当我开始上大学的时候，我就在走这条路.”

But this time is different.

皮尔森说:“我想告诉我的儿子，无论你的年龄多大，都有可能实现你的目标。.

There and back again

Pearson grew up in Sandusky and likes to stay active. 她自称是一个体育迷，在高中时打垒球、篮球和排球. She enjoys craft projects and spending time with family

显然，这些要素都具备了:积极、勤奋和专注. But for some reason, Pearson’s experience at Cleveland State after high school, and later at Owens Community College in Perrysburg Township, didn’t elicit the same passion.

“I wasn’t as interested and I dropped out,” Pearson said.

时间快进到2013年，皮尔森打了两份工，他决定尝试一些新的东西, which led to her moving to Austin, TX.

2016年，皮尔森的儿子出生时，她就读于德克萨斯州的另一所社区大学.

“After I had my son, it became difficult to continue to provide for him financially, so I dropped out again,” Pearson said. 他说:“我想在大学里坚持一年，但我再也坚持不下去了. Things were getting expensive and difficult to balance, so I decided to return to Sandusky where my family was located.”

That’s when she applied for BGSU Firelands.

The Falcon experience

在进入波士顿州立大学的时候，皮尔森决定是时候全身心投入到大学生活中去了.

“I dove back into school to figure out what I wanted,” Pearson said, 注意到她必须探索不同的博天堂官方网站领域才能找到合适的.

一位顾问向她介绍了BTAS项目，该项目的重点是小型企业.

“这听起来是个好主意，因为我知道我想为社区的孩子们创办一个非营利组织, eventually, open my own business,” Pearson said. “I want to be an entrepreneur.”

皮尔逊曾在福特汽车公司的一家装配厂工作，同时在BGSU的火场上课. 她指出，商科课程提供了多种多样的机会，让学生能够承担不同的商业角色. It was the perfect fit.

“参加BGSU的技术与应用博天堂官方网站学士课程是我开始我的学校之旅以来做出的最好的决定,” Pearson said. “它给了我成为一个全面发展的人所需要的一切，我可以从不同的领域学习，并找到我未来想要的东西.”

项目主管米歇尔·布罗德克(Michelle Brodke)对皮尔逊的热情很感兴趣，并提名她为年度学生和社区表彰奖, 一场全校范围的庆祝学生和社区领袖成就的仪式.

“In addition to Miah’s 3.52 GPA, 她正在通过运用她在菲尔兰学院BTAS项目中获得的知识来发挥作用,布罗德克为学术优秀奖提名写的这封信. 随着她技能的提高，她在工作中的影响范围也在扩大. 她从装配技术员晋升为一线培训师. 这是学生从入门级职位逐步晋升到更负责任的角色的能力，为非传统学生创造了向上的流动性. Miah现在正在分享她的知识和对沟通的更深刻理解, lean management and teamwork at work.”

皮尔森在4月7日的典礼上获得了该奖项.

很明显，皮尔逊对学院里的其他人产生了积极的影响. Just ask Jaclyn McLean, an associate teaching professor at BGSU Firelands, who appreciated having Pearson in class.

“I met Miah during the 2019 spring semester while she was taking a biology course; I really appreciated how thoughtful she was in approaching the labs,” McLean said. “米亚对材料提出了很好的问题，而问题在科学中是如此重要. 她在课堂上和与小组成员相处的态度也很好.”

麦克莱恩说，北卡罗来纳州立大学的教师致力于帮助学生找到一条成功的道路.

“我理解Miah在学校之外平衡了许多责任，我很欣赏她在课堂上的专注和沟通,” McLean said. “Her determination paid off. 在过去的几年里，她是一个很棒的学生，也是一个很棒的同事. I’m excited to see what her future holds.”

Hope for the future

皮尔逊感谢来自她的家人和BGSU的教职员工的支持.

“我很高兴我让我的家人感到骄傲，他们在这段旅程中一直支持我. I didn’t do this alone. Were it not for my mom and grandparents helping with my son, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my courses. I definitely want to thank my family for being so supportive."

Pearson wants to continue to grow in her position at Ford. She has a particular interest in marketing and communication. 她还希望成立一个非营利组织，帮助贫民区的孩子.

“孩子们因为坏习惯而陷入不良活动，看不到他们的光明潜力,” Pearson said. “I want to help inner-city kids to give back to the community, whether we volunteer to clean parks, put on a concert for the community or something else. Inner-city kids are the future of this community, 所以我想给他们一个机会，让他们在一个积极的环境中充分发挥自己的潜力.”