By Savannah Swanson
Angel Street was faced with something to which every student at Delaware Technical Community College can relate: the dreaded first day of classes. The difference was, while many new students were coming to Delaware Tech straight out of high school, Street was 41 years old and a single mom of four children.
Before enrolling at Delaware Tech in the fall of 2017, Street said she began working straight out of high school as a medical receptionist. She then went to beauty school and worked as a hairdresser for a few years before coming back to working in medical administration and payroll. Although the pay was minimal,
After having children, Street left the workforce to focus on raising them.
Street said she made the decision to come back to school when she realized that in order to get a decent job that could support her family, she would need to have a degree.
The National Center for Education Statistics defines nontraditional students as anyone 24 years of age or older.
Nontraditional students are not uncommon at Delaware Tech, but the majority of students coming to college are coming directly from high school. According to Delaware Tech enrollment numbers from the 2018-19 school year, 61% of the student population are considered traditional, while 39% are considered nontraditional.
Street said she was apprehensive about coming back to school at her age and felt very much out of her comfort zone.
“I feel like I am pretty good with getting along with people,” Street said. But at the same time, she said she also felt like she was kidding herself since she was going to be one of the oldest students in her classes.
Fortunately, Street did have some other nontraditional students in her classes, and that was a comfort to her. Street said the faculty and staff at Delaware Tech were a huge help to her as well. She said they were always available to help her when she was struggling with any of her classes.
“It’s set up for you to be successful. Help is available if you need it. You just have to ask,” she said. “There’s nothing to fear. Fear holds you back.”
Street said she felt that the support from instructors and her desire to learn was a huge encouragement for her to keep going and pushed her to do more.
While Street was taking classes to earn an Associate’s in Business Management, she knew she had to do more in order to build up her resume. She decided to get involved in student and campus life, so she joined the Student Government Association (SGA), Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society (PTK), and the Alpha Beta Gamma (ABG) Business Honors Society.
In addition to joining the clubs, Street ran for the position of ABG and SGA president and ultimately won the election for both positions. Street held her position as ABG president for the 2018-19 school year, and her position in SGA during the 2017-18 school year.
As the president of ABG, Street was in charge of organizing events and group activities.
ABG advisor Holly Conley said Street went above and beyond when performing her duties as president. Conley said Street showed up to her first ABG meeting with folders for each member of the officer team so they could take notes and keep track of everything going on. She would also bring drinks and snacks for everyone to have during each meeting.
“She wasn’t expected to do that, but she did. You can tell she cares, she wants to put that extra touch on everything,” Conley said.
During the holidays, ABG created a Mitten Tree, where they collected mittens, scarves, and hats on a Christmas Tree donated everything to a homeless shelter. When it came time to gather all the donations, Street delivered them, but the shelter ABG had chosen said they weren’t in need of it.
Rather than returning to campus with the donation items, Street took the initiative, and within a few hours was able to donate them to the Salvation Army, who was thrilled with the gift.
“They were over the moon,” Conley said. “They couldn’t believe how much had been donated.”
Because of Street’s hard work, ABG will donate to the Salvation Army again when they do this year’s Mitten Tree. The group has also been recognized nationally with the Campus Service Award for their work during the 2018-19 school year.
As president of SGA, Street faced some challenges much different from what she encountered in ABG with the Mitten Tree. Due to schedule conflicts and personal reasons, all the other SGA officers Street worked with had to step down from their positions, leaving Street to run SGA herself.
Delaware Tech’s SGA works closely with the Deans’ office when putting on student events, and Terry Campus Dean of Student Affairs Jennifer Pires, saw Street step up as the only officer in SGA.
“Angel is always very positive and very optimistic. She’s the person that will try to make it work no matter what,” Pires said.
Pires said Street would attend student events that weren’t even sponsored by SGA so she could be more involved and represent the group.
“She doesn’t just sit at the table and wait for people to walk by, she just naturally draws people in,” she said.
“As a student leader, she represents everything Delaware Tech stands for. She is somebody who is always inclusive. She’s consistently friendly and optimistic,” Pires said.
In the spring of 2019, Street’s hard work paid off and she graduated with her Associate’s in Business Management, and was chosen to be the student speaker at graduation.
This fall she has started a part-time job at Delaware Tech’s Terry campus as an administrative assistant in the Workforce Development department, and is working on earning a second degree, this time in General Business. She is planning to graduate with her General Business degree in the spring of 2020.
While balancing her academic life with being a single mom, Street said her parents and kids were extremely supportive. She felt that this experience also served as a good learning tool for her children. She thought that by her children seeing her going back to school, they would have more confidence in themselves.
“I think it really showed the example of, ‘Mom’s got a lot on her plate and she can do it, so we can do it too,’” Street said.
When asked if she could give advice to other nontraditional students who are nervous about going back to school, Street simply said, “Don’t be afraid, even if it seems overwhelming.”
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