Musgrave Plans to Pay it Forward

Musgrave

Plans to

4 I engage.ggc.edu Payit

One person became a light in in her life. Now she wants to be that light for others.

While Autumn Musgrave does not dwell on her childhood nor allow it to define her, it provided motivation for how she wants to use her career in making a difference for others.

She is a survivor of an “adverse childhood,” a term referring to various types of abuse and neglect. While Musgrave was young, a family friend became concerned for her and befriended her. She spent considerable time with Musgrave, mentoring and encouraging her as she grew up. “I didn’t have the best hand dealt to me early on, but I was very fortunate in that I had an adopted grandmother take me under her wing and guide me along the correct path,” said Musgrave, who called her friend, ‘Lollie.’

“Lollie was always there for me, and showed me the light in a truly dark place,” she said. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here today and accomplishing the things I am. She pushed me to be better, and to succeed despite my background.” A graduate of North Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, Musgrave became interested in attending Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) after attending a softball camp there. She enjoyed its campus environment, its welcoming atmosphere and her interactions with faculty and coaches. She enrolled at GGC as an education major, but over time, she decided that a nursing degree would allow her to make a greater impact on those who needed it most. Her inspiration was Lollie, who worked as a nurse in pediatric psychology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for many years. Musgrave said she became inspired to follow in her footsteps. However, switching majors after taking two years of courses for an education degree meant that Musgrave would need more time to graduate from college because she required different courses for a nursing degree.

“ Lollie was always there for me, and showed me the light in a truly dark place.”

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Autumn Musgrave guides Cowboy around a barrel. Musgrave, who has ridden horses since she was young, has been barrel racing for three years.

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GGC’s nursing program also is highly selective, accepting only about 28 students each fall and spring semester for their junior and senior years. To increase her chances for acceptance, Musgrave repeated some courses to raise any B grades to an A. Her plan worked, and she became a nursing major in fall 2020. A first-generation student, Musgrave has maintained a 4.0 in her nursing courses. “It will take me a bit longer to graduate, but I have found my passion, and I am determined to accomplish what I have set out to achieve,” she said. That determination includes funding her education by working three jobs. Musgrave also received support from Lollie – until she developed an aggressive case of Alzheimer’s disease almost two years ago. “This left me feeling very alone, and in a difficult situation both emotionally and financially,” she said. The situation was particularly difficult because Lollie had trouble remembering her. Musgrave applied for financial aid, but was initially denied. Until a student is 25, they are considered a dependent and financial aid is awarded based on their parents’ or guardians’ incomes. “This doesn’t help those of us with no relationship with our parents,” Musgrave said. She applied for a dependency override for the 2019-20 academic year without knowing it would entail gathering and sorting through all of the police reports, court records and other documentation from her childhood to prove her story. “I had to re-experience all of those painful childhood memories,” she said. Fortunately, she received the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Scholarship, which was established to provide support for nursing majors at GGC. “Not only did the scholarship fill a financial gap and enable me to stop working so I could focus on my studies, it meant that I was spared from being forced to re-live my traumatic memories yet again when refiling for the dependency override,” Musgrave said. “I am deeply appreciative.” She recently shared her story with the University System of Georgia Foundation’s board of trustees, which was hosted at GGC for one of its meetings. Today, Musgrave looks forward to her senior year and beyond. Once she graduates, she will join her husband, a Marine based in California.

“ If I could make that much of an impact on just one kid’s life like Lollie did for me, then it would make my whole nursing career worthwhile.”

Meanwhile, she is training a new horse, Cowboy, for barrel racing competitions and gaining work experience as a patient care technician at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She is more committed than ever to her chosen career. “I have always had the motto that if I could be a ‘Lollie’ to just one kid, I would show them that life doesn’t have to end here, and their current circumstances don’t have to define their future,” she said. “If I could make that much of an impact on just one kid’s life like Lollie did for me, then it would make my whole nursing career worthwhile.”