When I met the woman I married, she was a single mother of four who had dropped out of high school. She realized that the only way out for her was to get an education. She was willing to pay attention, follow directions, and do whatever it took, and now she’s a Harvard student with a 4.0 GPA. This is her story.

I’ll spare you the story and pick up where she decided to do something with her education.

He worked for the K-12 private school system he owned in the Dallas area, interacting daily with students advancing to top colleges, scholarships, and increased opportunities. One day she came up to me and said, “I want to go to college like your other students.” She had been out of school for over 20 years. She had him contact the last high school she attended and get a transcript.

According to his transcript, he needed about three semesters of work to finish high school. At my school, we train students in accelerated learning using Howard Berg’s speed reading and a package of reading, studying, assessing, and writing strategies that help them do their work better, faster, and easier. She had seen 13- and 14-year-olds graduate from high school and met many of our students who finished college at 18 and 19, and she believed she could do the same.

She had taken all the training and actually taught speed reading, so she was already equipped to move quickly. I packed up the courses she needed to finish and finished her last exam six weeks later. Yes, you read that right, six weeks! Three semesters of high school in six weeks!

Because she was a single mom, she qualified for a whole range of college funds and enrolled in the local community college that fall, fully funded, meaning she had grants to cover everything, including some living expenses, and no loans, nothing. that I had to pay. back.

He passed his freshman year of college with a 4.0.

Near the end of his freshman year, he got a job elsewhere, earning more money, but it didn’t give him time to continue college. At about the same time, things in my life changed. I was divorced, my schools closed as a result, and I was trying to rebuild my school business after the divorce. We stayed in touch and reconnected a few years later. When we spoke, she still had ambitions to finish college.

I got my school back and we got married soon after. She was still working and kept expressing her desire to finish college. We moved to another city and I was well enough in my school business that she didn’t have to work, so she started back at college full-time the next fall.

It took him two years to complete his Associates. In those two years, he earned two full scholarships and maintained a 4.0 GPA. He graduated Summa Cum Laude, with highest honors, and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the junior college’s honor society.

We discuss where to go next. He was offered scholarships to many of the local colleges, but one day he looked at me and said, “The great Dr. Beasley should be able to get me into an Ivy League school.”

Comes to mind… Ivy League: Hard to get in, hard to stay, and they don’t accept transfer students. So the challenge was on. I’m pretty good at this stuff because it’s my area of ​​expertise, but I’ve never had a challenge like this: transferring to an Ivy from a community college.

Well, I found an opportunity at Harvard in their Extension School. We apply and fly to Boston for the interview. As she was going through her folder, the lady who interviewed her saw her Phi Theta Kappa certificate and pretty much ended the interview, saying that my wife was qualified for a scholarship and that she should apply. I soon realized that Phi Theta Kappa was pulling a lot of weight.

He applied for and received the scholarship, finishing his freshman year at Harvard with all A’s. Don’t let anyone fool you, Harvard courses are tough and she put in 40-60 hours a week on her courses. She was willing to pay attention, follow directions and get the job done, and she has paid off.

He continues to take courses and hopes to graduate in two more years, taking a little longer because the courses are difficult. Her title will say Harvard University. I told him there won’t be an asterisk at the bottom that says “Community College Transfer.” A Harvard degree is a Harvard degree. No one will be able to take that away from her… and no one will be able to look down on her for her past.

I am very proud of my wife. I share this with you to tell you that it is never too late to get a college degree and that there are many hidden opportunities for those who are willing to do whatever it takes. Even a Harvard degree isn’t out of reach for a high school dropout if he’s willing to pursue it.