“I’ve come a long way,” reflects graduating senior Shonda Singleton (left). Indeed she has.

Shonda is one of eight Law and Policy students graduating this quarter. Like many of our graduates, Shonda aspires to law school, and next year she plans to take the LSAT.

But graduating from college has not been easy.  Shonda was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana, and at the age of 13 was pregnant.  Before finishing sixth grade, she had dropped out of school and never returned.  As an adult, Shonda eventually left Louisiana and followed family members settling in the South Puget Sound area.  “Monroe had turned into a ghost town,” she explains. “There was nothing there to do. No jobs, no opportunity.”  Eventually Shonda wound up at Tacoma Community College, and after three years achieved her dream of obtaining her GED. With encouragement from TCC faculty, Shonda soon enrolled in college, and in 2014 completed her AA degree at TCC.  Two years ago she arrived on our campus.

Now that she’s done with her undergraduate degree, law school seems like a reasonable next step for Shonda.  “I like to help people. I have particular passion for the homeless. People look at them how they are, not how they could be. I like to look at how people can become something.”

Well said.  And what an example Shonda makes of the potential in people!  Congratulations to her and all our other graduating students.