Only about 1 in 4 SPEA graduate students are first-generation college students. Count Morgan Farnworth among them.
“In my immediate sphere I didn’t know a lot of people with college degrees,” Farnworth admits.
She became the first in her family to attend college. She will also become the first to earn a master’s degree and to pursue a doctoral degree.
Morgan’s academic journey began with a daily commute from Indianapolis to Bloomington, while working full-time to support her mother and younger siblings. Despite the distance and challenges, she was committed to her education. Her life trajectory changed when a faculty member at SPEA Bloomington asked her if she had considered pursing a doctoral degree.
“I was just shocked that I was on campus getting a bachelor’s degree, yet alone thinking about a doctorate,” she recalls. “That really pushed me to think about ways I could achieve my personal goals: making a true impact in a community and helping craft another generation of leaders and scholars.” (more…)