February 21, 2007

Elizabeth Martin, A Success Story



HANCEVILLE, Ala.--Elizabeth Martin's educational journey is a remarkable
one, marked most profoundly by faith and perseverance.



Martin married her first husband when she was just 12 years old,
dropping out of school after the sixth grade to provide for her growing
family. She had four children with her first husband. When she divorced
him at age 27, she was faced with raising the children on her own, a
feat which allowed very little time for her dream of going back to
school.



But at 29, she began GED classes with her son, Steven. Then, another
setback--three weeks later she learned she had cancer. She had to stop
classes to undergo treatment but her son went on to finish the program
and earn his GED.



Martin decided to continue working until her children were grown. She
took a job managing a store seven days a week and continued to pray
about earning a high school diploma.



One day Staci Bryan, who worked in Adult Education at Wallace State,
came into the store and told her of GED classes that were starting at a
nearby location at Holly Pond Methodist Church. She enrolled and
attended diligently.



When the class location moved she began taking classes on campus. From
the time she started back to school at age 50, it took her seven months
to complete the GED. Graduation was June of last year.



"God put everything into place," Martin said. "He always provided for me
when I was raising my four kids."



Martin recalls waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares
about fractions and for a day or two she'd be convinced she couldn't do
them, but someone was always there to reassure her.



"There are all fantastic people at Wallace, and they are always there to
try to help you," she said. "God always puts the people in your life you
need in your life. Amy Shaw was a great teacher."



Martin is now remarried to Buck Martin. He and her children Steven
Williams, Angela Thomas, Amy Wood and Amanda Williams continue to be a
source of encouragement for her, along with her three grandchildren
Randy Lee Brock, Dillon Thomas and Mattie Wood.



"I probably would have given up a lot of times but I knew my kids and my
husband were counting on me," she said.



Martin said earning the GED was one of her proudest moments. "My kids
were so proud of me, and it has given me more self-worth," she said.



Since earning her diploma, Martin has returned to Wallace to take
computer classes. So far she has a perfect 4.0 GPA.



"I believe the GED opens doors for me. Before, my professional skills
were based on things I learned in life. Now, there are a wider range of
places that I could work. A lot of people won't hire you unless you
have a GED," she said.



Martin currently works at Sacred Heart Monastery, where she prepares
meals for the nuns. For the moment, she believes she is doing the work
she is meant to do.



"I am so blessed to be where I am right now that I just couldn't leave
the nuns. They are so good to me and I love them so much."



Sometimes, just knowing you have options is enough.



"Education is something that can't ever be taken away from me," she
said. "Young people don't realize what that means, what having an
education means. They'd have to throw me out of Wallace to get me to
leave," she said.



Though she's sitting the spring semester out, she plans to continue
taking classes at Wallace and to keep her options open.



Martin's educational journey has inspired her children, all of whom
attended Wallace. Steven Williams, who began the GED program with her
went on to complete the Wallace State auto mechanics program. Amanda
Williams went first to Judson College, then took medical coding at
Wallace and now lives in Nashville with a successful career in that
field.

Elizabeth Martin of Cullman, Ala. is congratulated by Wallace State President Vicki Hawsey at the college's GED graduation ceremony
last summer.

  Kristen Holmes
  Director, Communications and Marketing
  Wallace State Community College
  P.O. Box 2000
  Hanceville, AL 35077
  256/352-8118
  E-mail: Kristen.Holmes@WallaceState.edu