Four decades have passed since two sisters first enrolled in college to earn their associate degrees. There have been countless hours of studying and multiple life interruptions. Now, the sisters—who are in their 60s—are preparing to do what they’ve dreamed of since childhood.
Willa Mae Brown and April Lewis will graduate from Georgia State University’s Perimeter College during fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 12.
Brown and Lewis say their passion for education is what has kept them moving toward their goal for more than 40 years.
“It’s like getting the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” Brown said of their accomplishment.
But getting to graduation hasn’t been easy. Between the two sisters, they have either enrolled or withdrawn from classes at Perimeter College 14 times.
When Brown first gave college a try, it was the mid-1970s, and she and her husband recently had moved their young family from New York to Atlanta. They leased a townhome off Candler Road in Decatur, not far from what was then known as DeKalb Community College, now Perimeter.
Brown enrolled in 1975 for a full course load, hoping to graduate with an associate degree in early childhood education. She did well in the classroom.
“I always loved school anyway,” Brown said.
But things had become challenging at home, where the family sought answers to what was keeping her 3-year-old son chronically ill.
“No one knew what was wrong with him,” Brown said of the persistent viruses and infections that kept little Frank (Frank Brown, Jr.) in and out of doctors’ offices and the hospital.
To help pay mounting medical bills, the thriving college student dropped her classes and worked two jobs. A few years later, Brown enrolled at the college for a second time.
But Frank’s health issues persisted. Then, he slipped into a coma. The doctors diagnosed him with meningitis and told the family to prepare for the worst.
Brown once more tabled her college dreams to be by her son’s side. But Frank emerged from the coma in what Brown calls a miracle. Doctors later diagnosed him with a manageable autoimmune condition. Frank and his family today live in Switzerland, where he is a pharmaceutical company executive. He will make a special trip home to celebrate with his mom and aunt’s graduation.
“Probably outside of family and children, this is one of my mother’s and aunt’s most significant achievements,” Frank Brown Jr. said of the sisters and their decades-long journey from college start to diploma.
Like her older sister, Lewis had to interrupt her college studies multiple times, mostly to care for her three daughters as a single mother.
Lewis was scheduled to graduate in May, but Brown convinced her to hold off until she finished her last class—a biology course—this fall.
“I waited so my sister could catch up and we could graduate together,” Lewis said.
Along their path to graduation, the sisters were successful at completing certification programs. Brown received certified driver’s and manicurist licenses, and Lewis earned a number of health-field-related certifications in addition to owning and operating a beauty salon.
“It wasn’t like Mae and I were twiddling our thumbs,” Lewis said of their down time between taking college classes. “We had some issues and work to do.”
Throughout the 41 years, Lewis has held on to five of her student ID cards, one from when she first enrolled in 1976.
“It’s amazing; I think I still look the same, but I know I don’t,” Lewis said, laughing and noting that one of the cards even has her Social Security number on it.
Her tone grew serious when she talked about the people who, over the years, encouraged her to keep moving toward graduation. She singled out Ramon Selles, assistant registrar on Georgia State’s Decatur Campus, crediting him with helping her to push through during her last stint as a Perimeter student.
“I do try to make a connection with students so they feel like they have a resource,” Selles said. He said he made sure Lewis was taking the correct courses and put her in touch with advisers to keep her on track.
Even with Selles’ assurances, Lewis said when she returned to Perimeter almost two years ago, she questioned whether she still had what it took to succeed in classes where she’d bump against students young enough to be her great-grandchildren. The answer is obvious.
“April exemplifies one of the main qualities it takes to graduate from college—perseverance,” said Scott Pieper, a reference librarian who has known Lewis four years and says she always had a good attitude while spending long hours studying in the library.
More than 800 of the nearly 4,000 students expected to graduate this fall from Georgia State are students at Perimeter College—the largest associate-degree granting institution in the University System of Georgia.
Both Lewis and Brown say that, although their journey has been long and challenging, the reward is worth it.
“I always admired people with education,” Lewis said. “And, I said, ‘one day I want to have a degree of my own.’”
“When you have dreams, that’s what keeps you going,” Brown said.
Photo Captions: At top, April Lewis, left, and her sister Willa Mae Brown didn’t give up on their dream for a college degree. Above left, reference librarian Scott Pieper, left, says he’s been impressed by Lewis’s perseverance and positive attitude. Bottom, Lewis hugs Ramon Selles, assistant registrar on Georgia State’s Decatur Campus, who she credits with helping her to push through during her last stint as a Perimeter student.
