Class of 2023: Andrea Shockley - Agribusiness

While there are a few things Andrea Shockley will miss about Wallace State, the three-hour round-trip drives she made to come to class won’t be one of them.

Andrea is from Hazel Green, Alabama, located near the Tennessee state line. She found Wallace State after attending district competitions with her high school horticulture classes and decided she wanted to come to Wallace State after she graduated high school.

She started classes in 2018 and had a few classes left to complete her degree when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Instead of graduating with the class of 2020 as she’d planned, Andrea stepped away from college, with every intention of starting back. But time has a way of running away from us. It was two years before Andrea re-enrolled at the college and began to make once again that three-hour round-trip to the college to take her classes to complete her degree in agribusiness.

Not a morning person, Andrea said there were more than a few days that she had to push herself to get to the college. But one class at a time, she has finally completed her degree and plans to open her open her own floral business, calling it Buzzby.

In completing her degree Andrea said she hopes to be an example for her younger sisters, one who is graduating high school this year and who is middle school. “I want to show them that even If you have to take a break you can go back and can finish,” she said. “You don’t have to rush yourself, opportunities are always available.”