“Finish what you start.”
Those words guided Danielle LoRae Ellington through her journey to a bachelor’s degree in business management studies from University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). They also anchored the sentiment she was determined to pass down to her children.
“I’m married, I have two boys, and I always wanted to teach them to complete what you set out to do,” she said. “One of my dreams was to finish school at the same time as my son. I never lost focus on that.”
Ellington graduates from in May, the same month her oldest son, Derek, receives his high school diploma. In the fall, he plans to attend Hartford Community College, where he will major in mechanical engineering.
This double graduation is especially meaningful for Ellington. An only child, she lost her father to an illness and was raised by a single mother. She and her mother moved over and over, which meant starting and leaving many schools. As an adult, Ellington tried several colleges, but those attempts were met with challenges.
A long battle came during one college enrollment when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now cancer-free, she credits her husband, whom she also almost lost to illness, and her mother, a breast cancer survivor, for urging her to return to school and finish.
“They encouraged me to stay focused and empowered me to just get it done,” she said.
Nevertheless, restarting school at began with bouts of self-doubt. “I thought I couldn’t finish and that I wasn’t smart enough to finish,” she said. But her husband helped her stay the course.
“He said, ‘You’re intelligent and you can do it, just lower your anxiety and take your time,’” she recalled.
Her confidence grew one class at a time. Heeding her husband’s advice, she took her time getting familiar with the online format and with completing her work. “I saw positive results after my first class, and then with the next, and my confidence continued to build from there,” she said.
A writing class was particularly intimidating for Ellington, but her formula of slowing down and taking her time carried her though.
“Writing was never my forte,” she said. “But I stuck with my plan, and one sentence at time I did it and finished the class with an A.”
Ellington’s job as a training and events coordinator at the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine is demanding, often involving quick decisions and multiple tasks. She believes that the time management skills she honed during her time at have helped her perform better at work.
“That’s the main thing I gained,” she said. “Managing assignments helped me gain the ability to sit down, stay focused and map out exactly what is on my schedule and when assignments are due.”
Now a newly minted graduate, Ellington has set her sights on continuing her education. She plans to pursue an MBA at with the goal of launching her own business or moving up to an executive-level position. She said her educational path required that she commit to learning and overcome the fear of failure.
“Opportunities for education will always be there,” she said. “And you’re never too old to jump in and start.”
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