Creativity

Dillard is dedicated to HelpingStudents graduate Debt-free

Elease Dillard clearly remembers when she learned about the cost of a college degree. “It was a sunny day and I was in the financial aid office as a high school senior, excited about this next chapter of life,” she said. “Then I was told about the costs and the average amount of student loan debt. My sunny day immediately felt cloudy.” A few months before, Dillard had changed her mind about playing college basketball. Instead, she wanted to focus on her studies in a STEM field. This meant she would not have basketball scholarships for college. “While college is discussed a lot with high school students, the costs are not often included in those discussions,” she said. “Because I made the choice about basketball, I decided that paying for college should be up to me.” Dillard recognized her two choices. One was to take out loans, leaving her in debt. Or she could take action to find a way to fund her education. She chose action. Dillard also chose GGC, which offers very affordable tuition. “I am blessed the cost to attend GGC was less than other schools,” she said. “I earned enough to fund my entire freshman year debt-free. I took action again, and funded my second year debt-free. By this time, I found a groove and duplicated what worked.” In 2015, Dillard walked across the GGC commencement ceremony stage, biology degree in hand and debt-free. While at GGC, Dillard discovered that not everyone knew how to fund their education. She shared tips and strategies with her peers, many of whom went on to win scholarships or obtain other funding for school.

While at GGC, Elease Dillard, ’15, biology, found her calling in helping students graduate debt-free. Photo courtesy of Dillard.

Tw o GGC experiences helped change Dillard’s career goals. During her junior year, she took a GGC Honors Program course called “How to be a Global Change Agent.” The course caused her to “deeply reflect” on how to make a positive impact in the world. Then two weeks before graduation, she gave a speech in a GGC business course about funding her education debt-free. To her surprise, the class responded with applause ... and questions.