{"id":65407,"date":"2007-05-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-graduate-turns-tragedy-into-transcript\/"},"modified":"2007-05-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-08T00:00:00","slug":"uri-graduate-turns-tragedy-into-transcript","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2007\/05\/uri-graduate-turns-tragedy-into-transcript\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 graduate turns tragedy into transcript"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013May 8, 2007 \u2013The 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Black Scholar Awards honored some of the university\u2019s most promising students this spring. Among them was 57-year-old non-traditional student Sharon Isom of the east side of Providence, who five years earlier would never have expected to even be in school. Isom will graduate this month.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe \u201890s were a difficult time for Isom, as she battled breast cancer and the grief of losing six siblings and a mother. \u201cI had a lot of tragedy,\u201c Isom explained. \u201cBut there is not anything in this world that you can\u2019t do. Yeah, you get held back; you cry. But then you just hold on and keep moving, and keep moving and keep moving.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tIsom came to 溏心vlog免费B站 in search of answers. All of her siblings had become involved in drugs. The six who died lost their lives to overdoses and AIDS. \u201cSomething had to happen,\u201d Isom said. \u201cI lost my whole family. I was right there. How did I not get into it? How does this happen?\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tIsom found answers in one of her first courses at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Feinstein Providence Campus. The course, \u201cBlacks in the Legal System,\u201d introduced Isom to Cynthia Hamilton,\u201d director and professor of the African-American Studies and professor of political science.<\/p>\n


\n\tHamilton, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a year after coming to the University, made an instant connection with Isom. In fact, for the last two years, Isom has commuted to the Kingston campus to continue to take Hamilton\u2019s courses.<\/p>\n


\n\tIsom said that Hamilton helped her focus on her African-American major and encouraged her to pick up women\u2019s studies minor. \u201cBetween the cancer and the MS, we got it going on,\u201d Isom joked. <\/p>\n


\nMore seriously, Isom explained that she owes much of her motivation to Hamilton. \u201cI don\u2019t know who pushes who more,\u201d Isom explained. \u201cBecause we\u2019re here for a reason. You get these life-threatening diseases, and you wonder why you are here.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHamilton said that she enjoys teaching at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Feinstein Providence Campus because the non-traditional students who attend have had experiences that have caused them to come back to school.

\n\u201cAcademics can be applied to real life,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cIt is not separate. It is positive for me to hear Sharon say \u2018I want answers.\u2019 When your education speaks about your life, that\u2019s when you make learning come alive.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIsom received the Onyx Award at the Black Scholar Awards and was inducted into the Onyx Senior Honor Society, which acknowledges students who have excelled in academics, placing emphasis on heritage, humanity, and humility. She also received the Arthur L. Hardge Award that acknowledged her all-around outstanding community service.<\/p>\n


\n\tIsom moved to Georgia in the late \u201890s to get away for a while. While there, she volunteered at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where she established a program called \u201cSmall Friday Tours.\u201d Each Friday, Isom took children from the surrounding areas, who would never have had a chance to go to an airport, to tour the airplanes and take pictures with the pilots.<\/p>\n


\n\tShe currently works in several 溏心vlog免费B站 offices, including the Special Programs Office and the bookstore. She has also spent a great deal of time getting the message out to other women that \u201ccancer is not a death sentence; it\u2019s a wakeup call.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cA lot of women get depressed,\u201d Isom explained. \u201cBut don\u2019t. This is what you do \u2013 you go back to school or whatever makes you happy. It\u2019s different for different people. But it\u2019s all about positivity.\u201d

\nHamilton has encouraged Isom to attend graduate school. Isom took her advice and will study political science next year at 溏心vlog免费B站. She eventually plans to teach, and will most likely focus on African-American studies.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI have a great passion for this,\u201d Isom explained. \u201cIt\u2019s not a job for me. I wake up and I feel so refreshed because I am going to learn something. I stay happy. I think that\u2019s the cure for cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIsom is a mother of two with eight grandchildren. She shares with them the strong mindset she has adopted. \u201cI fought insanity,\u201d she said. \u201cThen I said it\u2019s time to get tough. Time to pull up your Huggies and fight.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\n溏心vlog免费B站 soon-to-be graduate Sharon Isom ( R) of the east side of Providence receives congratulations from friend, Melvoid Benson, who sits on the North Kingstown School Committee during the recent Black Scholar Awards Program. 溏心vlog免费B站 News Bureau Photo by Michael Salerno Photography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013May 8, 2007 \u2013The 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Black Scholar Awards honored some of the university\u2019s most promising students this spring. Among them was 57-year-old non-traditional student Sharon Isom of the east side of Providence, who five years earlier would never have expected to even be in school. Isom will graduate this month. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65409,"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-65407","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\/65407","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=65407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}