MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — One Milledgeville mother of two is now at Fort Valley State University and will receive her college degree -- 30 years after she started.
In 1981, Lisa Nichols took her first steps on the campus of Middle Georgia College, but she says books were the last thing on her mind.
"After three years, I dropped out because I was not focused, had a little boyfriend I was trying to run behind," Nichols said.
Time went on, and in that time, Lisa got married and had two children.
"My husband got in a car accident that left him quadriplegic, so I had to stay home and take care of him. After he passed, my mom had Alzheimer's, and I was caring for her and working. I always felt bad that I didn't finish school," Nichols said.
A few years later, Lisa's daughter Jalisa went off to college and got pregnant with her baby boy, Carson.
"Whenever I had Carson, I was kind of just done with school. Like, 'I have a baby, I can't go to school and have a baby at the same time,'" Jalisa said.
Lisa took care of her grandson so that Jalisa could finish school.
In 2017, Lisa's son, Neddrick, started attending Fort Valley State University. A few years later, he told his mom that he no longer wanted to finish school.
"How could I tell him about being a dropout when I was a dropout?" Nichols said.
Lisa says her son's decision to put down the books inspired her to pick them up.
In 2019, he became a full-time student at Fort Valley State University.
On May 15th, she will graduate from the university with a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership, with a concentration in Public Administration.
"I'm very, very proud of her. She has gone through so much and pushed through regardless of everything that came her way," Jalisa said.
Lisa says it hasn't always been an easy road, but it was worth it.
"It's just awesome to think that after 30-plus years, I could go back to school. It wasn't easy at all, but I just thank God that He just allowed me to complete that milestone," Nichols said.
Lisa is graduating with a 4.0 GPA.