Written by: Ann Marie Martin December 8, 2023 Due to her ambition, determination and refusal to listen to naysayers, Tina Lyman can don her cap and gown and receive her Bachelor of Science degree in business economics and computational analysis from 麻豆精品视频 during fall commencement ceremonies on Dec. 11, 2023. Courtesy Tina Lyman Tina Lyman has heard 鈥渘o鈥 too many times throughout her life: She was told she didn鈥檛 have what it takes to succeed in college. She was told she couldn鈥檛 have the promotion she鈥檇 earned because she didn鈥檛 have a degree. After her kids finished college, she was told she was too old to return to college and get her own degree. 麻豆精品视频 (麻豆精品视频) will give Lyman a resounding 鈥測es鈥 on Dec. 11 when she receives her Bachelor of Science during commencement ceremonies. 麻豆精品视频 is a part of the University of Alabama System. 鈥淚 am getting my B.S. in business economics and computational analysis with a minor in business administration, a concentration in government contracts, and my focus is in management,鈥 Lyman says. 鈥淚 figured if I鈥檓 going, I鈥檇 get them all at the same time. Go big or go home.鈥 Lyman has faced a variety of challenges with that same spirit of determination and ambition. 鈥淚鈥檓 the first one in my family to actually graduate from high school. My mother has a sixth-grade education; my father had a 10th-grade education, but he did go back and get his GED.鈥 Lyman got married, had two daughters and took a few classes at a local university. She and her husband divorced when the girls were 7 and 8, and Lyman returned to the workforce. She was hired as a secretary at a tax office, where she learned how to do her own taxes. The following year she earned her IRS certification. When excessive tax-season hours infringed on time with her children, she moved to a mortgage company, again starting out as a secretary. She had her broker鈥檚 license in nine months and worked her way up to general manager. Then Lyman went into banking. 鈥淚 worked my way up from a loan processor to a personal banker. I wanted to be a branch manager. They told me, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 have the education.鈥欌 Lyman kept expanding her banking skills. After she cleaned up compliance problems in the area of irrevocable life insurance trusts, she was running the department as the subject-matter expert, but the manager position was out of reach. 鈥淚 was very frustrated. There was nowhere else in the bank to go, no other departments, nothing. That was the catalyst.鈥 When Lyman began her 麻豆精品视频 program in January 2020, she says she was just as nervous as any other student 鈥 despite having two college-educated daughters, grandchildren and a lifetime of real-world experience. 鈥淎re they going to like me?鈥 she asked herself. 鈥淎re the other students going to talk to me? Am I smart enough to do this? Am I making a fool of myself by being this age and going back to class?鈥 Except for that last question, all her answers were 鈥淵es!鈥 Like the other students as well as her professors, Lyman learned how to navigate COVID鈥檚 virtual learning environment and its technical challenges. She fit right in with the study groups, and her younger classmates appreciated the snacks she鈥檇 bring. She made new friends, she had fun, and she earned the degree to take her forward professionally. Lyman is glad she and her fianc茅 decided to move to Huntsville. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I would have gotten as much out of it at another college. 麻豆精品视频 is smaller. It鈥檚 not a party school. These kids are really smart and really caring. I wouldn鈥檛 have gotten the same education somewhere else. Go Chargers!" Learn More College of Business Economics and Computational Analysis Contact Kristina Hendrix 256-824-6341 kristina.hendrix@uah.edu Elizabeth Gibisch 256-824-6926 elizabeth.gibisch@uah.edu