As Chattanooga State's 2020 SOAR Student Excellence Award nominee (and winner of the East Tennessee regional competition, Katrina Griffin is a great example of what the Tennessee Reconnect program has enabled for students in the state. As a mom and an adult who has had her fair share of life challenges, Katrina heard a commercial on the radio two years ago promoting the then-soon-to-launch TN Reconnect initiative, which would pay tuition for adult learners without a post-secondary credential. She was so excited to have a chance to come to college that her husband encouraged her to start even before the program launched. After succeeding in a continuing education math course, she walked into her first credit-bearing college class nervous about being older than everyone else in the room. Her success since then is entirely attributable to her fierce tenacity and desire to make the most of the opportunity to get a college education. Now in her final semester at ChattState, Katrina reflects on what getting her associate's degree means to her, where she plans to go next, and how mental illness has become a central part of her success story.

To read more about Katrina, check out her Adult Success Story: https://www.chattanoogastate.edu/adult-success-stories

We are confident Katrina will wow the statewide judges when she travels to Nashville in March 2020 to compete for Community College SOAR Student Excellence Award; she has certainly wowed us!

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Tiger Stories is a part of the Belonging Matters initiative at Chattanooga State. For more on this initiative, including other podcast episodes and transcripts, visit www.chattanoogastate.edu/belongingmatters.