Artist finds confidence as Polk State College student
Ava Virginia Edmonds has been an artist in one form or another since she can remember. The daughter of an elementary school art teacher and a cartoonist, Edmonds has always received encouragement at home to…
Polk State VP of Institutional Effectiveness, Accreditation & Research has a heart for community, state colleges because they allow students to get education on own terms
Mary Clark has a heart for community and state colleges because they allow students to get their education on their own terms like she did. Clark, who joined Polk State College in March as its…
Polk State Lakeland Gateway to College Collegiate High School alum becomes published author with book embracing culture and diversity
Abisola Adeyemo is always looking for the next challenge, and once she accomplishes it, she seeks out opportunities to share her experiences in hopes of inspiring others. In 2015, she enrolled at Polk State Lakeland…
Single mom overcomes “culture shock” to achieve Polk State degree
Stephanie Cooper-Stewart emigrated from Jamaica in May 2009, leaving behind a good job, her family, and everything she once knew in her home country. After nearly a year of unemployment and becoming a single mother,…
Graduating student is living American Dream with Polk State degree
Konrad Sojko dreamed of a better life in the United States for more than a decade, and on Dec. 13, the Poland native will celebrate this achievement as he receives his Associate in Arts degree…
Graduating Polk State student doesn’t plan to use degree due to illness, but finished as an example for her children
Britainny Palmer may never use her degree due to illnesses that prevent her from working, but she was determined to graduate as an example for her three children and will celebrate this accomplishment on Dec.…
Polk State faculty and staff help student overcome adversity on path to graduation
Roxane Aupont’s mother sent her to the U.S. when she was only 15 in hopes of affording her opportunities she couldn’t obtain in Haiti. Since then, Aupont has overcome abuse and homelessness to ensure that…
Supervisor in country’s busiest ER: Polk State Nursing is top notch
Thrill of critical thinking led Polk State alum to EMS career
Allison Skinner lives for the thrill of responding quickly and critically to the needs of her patients as a paramedic with Manatee County Emergency Medical Services. And after only four years on the job, Skinner…
First-generation-in-college student “was willing to work hard, just needed guidance”
Jean Woody Luxama has had a few monumental turning points in his life. One was when he lived through the 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and injured hundreds of thousands more…