{"id":56948,"date":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/commencement-2015-uri-student-overcomes-hardship-to-earn-degree\/"},"modified":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T00:00:00","slug":"commencement-2015-uri-student-overcomes-hardship-to-earn-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/04\/commencement-2015-uri-student-overcomes-hardship-to-earn-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2015: 溏心vlog免费B站 student overcomes hardship to earn degree"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tCheryl Robinson-Roberts to graduate from Feinstein Providence Campus<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 8, 2015 \u2013 It took Cheryl Robinson-Roberts nearly 40 years to get her college degree, but it was worth it. She can look in the mirror and say, \u201cI did it. I\u2019m finished.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nWell, sort of. The 57-year-old 溏心vlog免费B站 senior is thinking about getting her master\u2019s degree, possibly in social work or theology. \u201cI can almost see it. Once you start, you want more.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nShe credits her academic success to the professors and staff at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education in Providence who never let her give up, despite her tumultuous family life. Her faith also sustained her.<\/p>\n


\nIn December, she earned her bachelor of interdisciplinary studies, with a major in human studies, and in May she\u2019ll walk across the stage on the Kingston campus, proudly holding her diploma.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt\u2019s the end of a long journey,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it hasn\u2019t always been easy. Life comes at you.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tRaised in South Providence, Robinson-Roberts was the middle child of five, born to a father who worked as a custodian and pastor and a mother who styled hair. Her childhood was idyllic, with family gatherings on holidays and Sundays at the Church of God in Providence. \u201cI was happy and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHer life changed when she got pregnant at 17. She stayed in school, and her mother took care of her infant son, Craig, so she could graduate on time, in 1975. The following year, she enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站 as part of the talent development program, but left after two semesters to go back to Craig. She took classes on the Providence campus, but, again, left without finishing.<\/p>\n


\nIn 1982, she found a temporary job as a data entry clerk in Family Court in Providence, which led to the full-time job she holds today \u2013 deputy clerk in the court\u2019s domestic relations department. Through it all, she never gave up her dream of a college degree, even though family problems seemed overwhelming at times.<\/p>\n


\nAt 30, she adopted an infant boy whose teenage mother was unable to care for him. After marrying Kevin Roberts in 1988, her family expanded to one stepson and two biological sons. She also cared for her sister\u2019s five children at one point. Then, at the age of 50, child service workers asked if she would care for one of her grandchildren. Her response: \u201cHow soon can you bring her?\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI had my 50th birthday party,\u201d she says, \u201cand I\u2019m bringing an 8-month-old baby with me. That was amazing \u2013 and unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThere\u2019s more. Her father died in 2012, her mother got sick and last year a family member went to prison, leaving her children behind. Again, Robinson-Roberts opened her home \u2013 and heart \u2013 to kids, this time two. \u201cI took them in because they\u2019re my family. It\u2019s that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMiraculously, she still made time to pursue her degree. After earning her associate\u2019s degree elsewhere, she returned to the Providence campus in 2011, taking two classes every semester, even during the summer, while holding down a full-time job at the courthouse and caring for children and ill parents.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI just kept plugging away,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was something I wanted to do for me. I had \u2013 and have \u2013 a good job, but I wanted my degree. A judge once told me, \u2018You’re never too old to learn.\u2019 That inspired me.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Providence campus was the perfect place for her as an older, working mother, she says. Younger students embraced her, and faculty members were helpful and understanding with her family demands. Courses were challenging, from statistics to psychology to human development. She made the dean\u2019s list twice.<\/p>\n


\n“As her academic advisor, I was aware of the many barriers Cheryl faced in her personal life,\u201d says Tammy Vargas Warner, coordinator of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Urban Initiative. \u201cHer determination was inspiring. Cheryl continued making steady progress each semester and we are so proud that she has finished. We know coming back is not easy and life doesn’t always cooperate but we help students find a realistic path to completion.”<\/p>\n


\nCraig was only 2 when Robinson-Roberts started her long journey at college; he turned 40 last December. Today, she has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. And she\u2019ll celebrate her 27th wedding anniversary this summer.<\/p>\n


\nIn June, Robinson-Roberts will attend her 40th class reunion at Central High School in Providence. She can’t wait. She\u2019d like to bring her 溏心vlog免费B站 diploma, but it\u2019s too big to carry. \u201cInstead I\u2019ll upload a photo on my iPhone so I can show off my degree \u2013 in a humble way.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: On right, Cheryl Robinson-Roberts, a graduate of the Feinstein Providence Campus. On left is her granddaughter, Aaliyah Robinson.

\nPhoto courtesy of Cheryl Robinson-Roberts.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cheryl Robinson-Roberts to graduate from Feinstein Providence Campus KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 8, 2015 \u2013 It took Cheryl Robinson-Roberts nearly 40 years to get her college degree, but it was worth it. She can look in the mirror and say, \u201cI did it. I\u2019m finished.\u201d Well, sort of. The 57-year-old 溏心vlog免费B站 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}