In the lab. Getting out the otoliths
A picture of a striking new horizon, balancing a rambunctious social life with academic goals, and likely not sleeping as much as they should!
But reality often paints a very different picture, as many students are forced to take a more complicated route in the pursuit of higher education. Some of them are older, others working long hours alongside online classes, many with dependents that rely on them for care. These aspects of life construct obstacles that can seem impossible to hurdle, which makes those that rise to the challenge that much more impressive.
And of stories such as these, Jackie Timothy's (BS’95, biology) is one of the most inspiring.
As a single mother of four children, Timothy was not in a position where most would consider an education feasible to pursue—doubly so given the rare liver disease of her youngest (9 months) and the developmental disability of another. But while she was working as a babysitter to support her family she met a friend named Susan Gudmundsen, another single mother who was currently taking science classes at the U. Reminiscing about that time Timothy explains, “I remember just thinking, why would anybody want to go to school at this point in their life, you know? I just thought it was so bizarre! But eventually, I had this epiphany that the only person who could change my life—and when I would do so— was me. And so I followed my friend’s lead.”
That path would lead both women into the ACCESS Scholars program, providing critical support to finance their educational journeys while their shared experiences helped lift each other up. To say Timothy made the most of the opportunity would be an understatement. “I took a full course load every single quarter,” she describes. “I never skipped a summer, never took time off because I was going to get through this.” Laughing over how she wouldn’t recommend that, she pauses then follows with, “But I kept going. I realized that my children’s lives improved when my life improved, as funding and insurance became more feasible. It gave me a clear goal, and I knew I was going to meet this goal.”
And meet the goal she did. ACCESS connected her with the Prescott Lab where she worked as an intern, enabling further connections that would eventually net Timothy a full tuition scholarship. She would be chosen as a convocation speaker for the College of Science and ultimately graduated with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.
Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)2024
This success catapulted her north to the University of Alaska in Juneau, adding a Masters in Public Administration that kickstarted a stellar 23-year career. Timothy would work across government agencies to balance resource development with resource protection, develop habitat enhancement and restoration projects and ultimately become a valuable leader that cultivated and cared for critical environmental projects that still hold high importance to the State of Alaska. Going on 7 years in retirement she still serves as a valued consultant in the biological sciences, which she balances while caring for a child with cerebral palsy that she adopted last year.
Timothy’s impressive life would stretch the limits of our imagination were she not living proof that her accomplishments had been achieved. But perhaps that’s only because more people like her haven’t been given these opportunities as well? Tradition likes to paint these pictures of how the world should be—that parenthood and university cannot coexist. But Jackie Timothy and many others have shown us a more hopeful, more ambitious canvas. Responsibilities don’t have to be roadblocks, their sturdiness can just as easily act as the supportive pillars of success.
After all, when compared to raising multiple children on your own… well, how hard could college really be?