Angela Kidwell CarterMs. Angela Kidwell-Carter dropped out of high school when she was just 16 years old because, at that time, she failed to realize how important it was to continue on with her education. After two (2) years of working dead end jobs that left her very unhappy and struggling to make any money, she successfully earned her GED. She then married at age 19 and gave birth to a daughter before her 20th birthday. Shortly afterwards, she enrolled in college, but wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to focus on in school. Since she and her husband were struggling financially, she decided to major in accounting as that field would provide her with many employment opportunities upon graduation. She was just finishing up the first semester in college when she was offered a full-time position that she could not pass up. She accepted a full-time job with a local college as a receptionist. The job did not pay well; however, due to her full-time status, she was able to acquire health insurance for herself and family. Once she started working a full-time job, she found that she just didn’t have the time nor the energy to continue with school.
In 2009, at age 23, she and her husband separated. The separation soon ended in divorce, which resulted in a joint custody agreement of their daughter. At this time, as a single mother, she knew she had to go back to school. She needed to succeed so that her daughter could have the things she deserved in life. She also felt that she should be setting a positive example for her. For some time, she struggled to decide what career path she should take. After a great deal of searching, she realized that in order for her to be happy, she needed to choose a career in which she could help other people, as helping others had always made her very content and fulfilled. So, she decided she wanted to go back to school to become a nurse.
Soon as that decision had been made, she discovered another obstacle in her path to success. When she discussed changing her work schedule to accommodate her classes with her manager, she was told it was impossible. Unfortunately, there would be no way to balance the school schedule with her assigned working hours. She felt discouraged and hopeless. Not a moment too soon, however, her hopes were uplifted. For some time now, she had been dating a wonderful man who was totally supportive of her decision to quit her job and return to school full-time. After this joint decision was made, things in her life started to finally fall into place as she received an official letter of acceptance into the RN program with Kaskaskia College for the fall 2012 semester. The first year of school was financially difficult, but she was able to take students loans out and qualify for the Pell Grant to cover most of her expenses. Even with these grants, it was becoming more difficult to stay afloat. Before her second year of school, she decided to seek out further assistance. This is when she learned about the WIA tuition sponsorship program. She immediately contacted the Bond County office and was determined eligible for their program. Through the WIA program, she was able to continue on with her education and graduate with honors from the RN program in May 2014. Shortly thereafter, she was able to pass her state boards with flying colors and attained full-time employment as an RN with Fayette County Hospital in Vandalia Illinois.
She is a happily married woman to a man who stood by her and believed in her even when she didn’t believe in herself. She states that she owes her success to the WIA program and to everyone who supported her throughout her journey