There was a time when Charles McGraw didn’t think he’d ever graduate college, but now that dream is well within reach.
McGraw made several attempts at a bachelor’s degree throughout his early 20s while holding jobs in the restaurant industry, sales and marketing. Each time, he’d ended up dropping out. He’d been out of school for four or five years when he made a realization.
“If I was going to go any higher than I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to do that without a degree,” McGraw said.
查尔斯·麦格劳（右）在看到他的前同事王嘎吉（左）在社交媒体上的帖子后得知了“快速通道”。
He was scrolling social media one day and saw a former co-worker’s post about the 密苏里州快速通道劳动力激励 grant, a program from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development that provides 用于支付课程、学费、一般费用或直接费用的补助金。
“I was like, ‘Well, now I don't really have an excuse not to go back to school and finish my degree,’” McGraw said.
这一次，情况有所不同。 他报名参加了工商管理学士课程，重新奉献，以获得他的学位。
“I'm not going to work this long for this and not try my best at it,” he said.
When he was younger, McGraw said, he was going to college because he felt it’s what he was supposed to do, but this time, he had a clear vision of what he wanted, which paid off both in his academic career and his confidence.
“Now I know what I want to do, and I'm focused and I'm here for me,” he said.
有一门课程对麦格劳来说是一个特别的障碍。 He’d failed it before, but he wasn’t deterred. He dedicated time to attending three 补充说明 sessions a week in addition to his class. SI是umkc发明的学术支持计划，为困难课程提供可选的额外指导，已被全球大学采用。
The sessions allowed McGraw to revisit challenging topics and get support in a small setting rather than in a full class, where he wasn’t as comfortable asking questions. He ended up with an A in the course and made the dean’s list.
“If you ever have doubts about stuff that you think you can't do, you really can do it,” he said. “You just have to be willing to put in the effort and go the extra mile.”
Being a full-time student while working a full-time job has been challenging, but McGraw said it’s been worth it. “It keeps me busy and it keeps me on a schedule that I can maintain that helps me, I think, be successful in the long run,” he said. “You just have to make sure you get enough sleep, which is a big thing and it's definitely doable. You just have to prioritize.”
麦格劳现在是大学的最后一年，他将在2025年春季拿到学位。 他打算留在目前的工作岗位上，他知道他的学位会帮助他脱颖而出。
“It's just going to be a really big personal achievement because I didn't think I would ever actually graduate college,” he said. “I'm going to be happy to get it over with, but also very happy that I did it.”