Lifelong learning makes college degree attainable for Jackie Aikens

Jackie Aikens thought the time for earning her degree had passed. She started going to school for computer programming in 1978, but between getting a job, starting a family and navigating math classes, her degree was put on pause.

She hit the “resume” button in 2021 after her sister mentioned that, through a program for senior citizens at Seminole State College of Florida, she had the opportunity to take one free class each semester. “And I thought ‘Oh, why not?’” Aikens said. “I looked into it and, lo and behold, they gave me credits back from so, so long ago.”

Aikens set the personal challenge for herself to complete her degree, in an entirely different academic environment than when she started. She remembers taking classes when research meant looking through microfilm and encyclopedias. Now there is Canvas and AI.

Her logical mind helped her during her over 30-year long career in healthcare IT as a programmer, but math still posed major challenges. Fortunately, Aikens knew to use her resources and utilized the Academic Success Centers at the Altamonte Springs and Sanford/Lake Mary Campuses to help her in her algebra and statistics courses.

Her journey even let her explore her interest in science, digging into an Earth Science class to learn more about the natural world, and overcome anxieties in her speech class. “I think I waited to take speech because the idea of talking in front of other people is just not exciting to me,” she said, but she has improved the more she has done it. “You don’t really realize how much time someone puts into speaking until you’ve gone through the class.”

In an assignment for her speech class, she reflected on how she came from a big family. “My mama had eight babies… and a lot of grit,” she wrote. She inherited that grit, returning to school, setting her own challenges and now, she is celebrating her 50th high school reunion the same year she is celebrating graduating with her associates degree.