Delegate Angelina Williams-Graves
Dr. Shameka Gerald
Zach Sykes
Brandon Waters
GET TO KNOW OUR ALUMNI!
Delegate Angelina Williams-Graves
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I'm really proud to be an alumni of Tidewater Community College. I currently represent the 90th House District and the Virginia General Assembly's House of Delegates. That encompasses a chunk of Norfolk and a little bit of Virginia Beach. In my day work, other than being a delegate, I am a real estate broker, I own my own real estate brokerage, Homes by Angelia Realty Company.
I worked for a while and when I went to work for the City of Norfolk, I realized that while I loved what I did in order to move up, if I was going to stay there, I needed to have a degree in something.
Someone said, 'Try TCC. They've got great classes, small classrooms, sizes where you really have an intimate experience with the instructors.' And so I did. I ended up graduating and along the way took classes on just about every campus.
Whatever your fear about college is, I think that Tidewater Community College, the faculty and staff, they're here and they can help you push through that and get past it. In my own words, get out of your own way and then be your very best.
"...Tidewater Community College, the faculty and staff, they're here and they can help you push through..."
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Dr. Shameka Gerald
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“...TCC does provide that opportunity if you're just willing to walk through the door for the first time, because you're going to be welcomed with open arms.”
I transitioned out of high school and wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do next. I wasn't the best student in high school, hard to believe, but I knew that I needed to take the next steps toward my education.
But I went back to TCC as my entry point to the next phase of my life. And I started with the assessments, your entry assessment, figuring out what my placement would be. I had to start at the very foundational aspects. And everyone at the college, from my counselor Carol Ballard to my professor Mike Kirby, treated me like a human and also took the time to work with me to make sure I had what I needed to be successful. So it was really this launchpad for the rest of my academic career.
Now I'm the Vice President of Learning for Yellow. It's an education non-profit. It provides a vast experience in the classroom setting, which is, when you think about adult learning theory and how adults learn, bringing those experiences and hearing different experiences across generations is what cements learning.
I think TCC provides the opportunity for entry as you are, where you are, and how you are. As adults, it's sometimes not an option or we don't think it's an option for us. And I think TCC does provide that opportunity if you're just willing to walk through the door for the first time, because you're going to be welcomed with open arms.
Zach Sykes
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“I really enjoyed my time at TCC. I tell people it's a
four-year university cut in half. Moving up onto ODU, it was very seamless.”
I started with TCC in 2013. I had not finished high school. I dropped out. I believe 10th was the highest grade that I finished because I started working full-time at 17. When I was 20, I left that job to go and get my GED and start with just pursuing a degree. I went for business administration at TCC, it's just a really good option and they still have it at the time. A big selling point for TCC and a big motivator for me to go was the two year guaranteed transfer to a four-year institution. So I figured, "Okay, well, I can get my GED, and then the very next semester I can start at TCC and then move on to ODU." And that's exactly what I ended up doing. I finished at TCC in 2016, and very next semester I was at ODU. It was a very painless transition.
I really enjoyed my time at TCC. I tell people it's a four-year university cut in half. Moving up onto ODU, it was very seamless. It didn't even feel like that much had changed just because the quality of the instructors, of the classes, of the coursework.
The social climate in general is very welcome and very opening and very non-intimidating. I know that may be a big barrier, just the feeling that you might be out of place and that was something that I know no one would ever have to worry about at TCC because there's just so many people from so many different backgrounds all in the same place doing the same thing towards the same objective.
Brandon Waters
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“Without TCC, there wouldn't to be a lot of opportunities for people like myself that didn't know where I wanted to go.”
The reason why I came to TCC is because I was just lost on where to go. And being that I had no idea what I wanted to do, I didn't want to commit myself to going to a four-year university. So TCC, I came here, and TCC worked for me because it was down the street from my home. So it was a nice drive, it was easy for me, and it wasn't a big commitment to put myself into any student loan debt.
I majored in engineering, and then I switched to multimedia. I was really good at doing videography and photography, and right when I switched I went full-fledged into freelancing, shooting weddings, commercials, and then it led me here to do even video stuff for the college as well as other colleges.
TCC prepared me for success in my career. It helped me to be able to communicate with people, be able to talk, and... I was a shy person, but now I'm less shy. I feel a lot more confident being able to talk to a wide range of different types of people and cultures, and TCC helped me to be successful in doing that with so many people and within my business.
Without TCC, there wouldn't to be a lot of opportunities for people like myself that didn't know where I wanted to go. But being that there are here, I know where I want to go, I'm doing exactly what I love to do.
