California State University, Stanislaus student Jean’ann Miller, an aspiring teacher and single mother who returned to college after determinedly overcoming obstacles in her life, has been honored as one of the scholarship recipients of the William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees Award for Outstanding Achievement.
A resident of Turlock who will receive her Liberal Studies Degree with an English concentration in December and then enter the teacher credential program, Miller is one of 23 CSU students being honored by CSU Trustees during their meeting today (Sept. 16) in Long Beach. The awards provide $3,000 scholarships to students who have demonstrated financial need, experienced personal hardships, and have attributes of merit including superior academic performance, exemplary community service, and significant personal achievements. More information on the awards is on the CSU Web site at http://www.calstate.edu/PA/news/2008/hearst.shtml.
A 1992 honors graduate of Hughson High School, Miller said she has had a strong desire to teach at the elementary school level for many years. Those dreams were sidelined when she withdrew after a semester in college, worked in a clerical job, got married, and then became a full-time mother of two sons. When the marriage turned abusive and ended in divorce, Miller said she made a conscious decision to make her dreams of becoming a teacher come alive again.
Miller’s sons, Collyn, 11, who has a form of autism called PDD-NOS, and Ian, 8, became her inspiration as she resumed her college education at Modesto Junior College.
“I was determined to rise above the circumstances of being a single mother,” Miller said. “I was going to make a difference in my life and my sons’ lives. I will prove to my boys that we will be okay and that you can achieve anything if you work hard for it.”
Miller has excelled as a college student, having graduated from MJC with honors and maintained a 3.92 grade point average at CSU Stanislaus where she is a Mary Stuart Rogers Scholar and a member of Phi Kappa Honor Society. She will be the first in her family to graduate from college.