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Anita Kacamaku | Leah Langheim | Mildred Sandridge | Jessica Talley
Mornique Smith | Olivia Body | Denise Richardson | Angie Tabor | Sharon Mirtaheri
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Anita Kacamaku is a 33-year-old Kosovar Albanian from North Mitrovica. In 1988, Kacamaku enrolled in Pristina University School of Economics, but by 1990, Albanians were no longer permitted to attend the university. Kacamaku needed to help support her family, so she worked two jobs, 12 hours a day, at local private businesses.
During the conflict in 1999, Kacamaku and her family were expelled from their home in North Mitrovica. Responsible for providing financial support for her parents, Kacamaku worked for the Kosovo Verification Mission and later as a translator at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. An attorney from Baltimore, who has since raised funds for Kacamaku's education, hired Kacamaku to work for her at the Criminal Defense Resource Center, where she worked until she began to attend New York College in Athens 2002.
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Leah Langheim spent years in a log cabin high up in the California Sierra Nevada before walking onto the Hollins campus and into the Horizon Program. By the time she got here, she was more than ready for every class she could take. The mother of three children, and the wife of a professional archeologist who traveled while she fixed up their cabin in the woods, Leah has now found an outlet for all her artistic inclinations and energies. She plays the violin in the Hollins orchestra, is participating in the theatre program, wants to join the dance program, and has created her own major, design. She’s ready for the challenge. “I’m a million times more motivated than I was in high school. I am so much more confident and focused now, and I don’t have time to mess up. Now, works seems like a pleasure.”
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Mildred Sandridge, who recently celebrated her 70th birthday, worked as a registered nurse for many years. A longtime member of the National League of American Pen Women and the Virginia Writers Club, Sandridge is planning to major in English with a concentration in creative writing. For the past several years, she has organized a Pen Women's poetry contest. Her oldest daughter, a physician, is a graduate of Hollins.
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Jessica Talley couldn't have gone back to school without the support that is an integral part of the Horizon Program. A single mother, she has a 12-year-old son with cystic fibrosis and a 16-year-old daughter. Her son depends on her for everything, including therapy, doctor’s appointments, and stays at the UVA medical center. But she is dedicated to doing what it takes to get an education, whether that means staying up until 2:00 a.m. to get her work done, or letting some housework go, or borrowing money. Her efforts are paying off. She has a 4.0 GPA and has been nominated for an award by her creative writing professor. “You can do anything you set your mind to when the time is right, and you follow your instincts,” she observed. “Just get out of your own way and let the universe line it up for you.”
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After running her own day-care service for 35 years, Mornique Smith decided to return to college. She knew about Hollins through her father-in-law, John Smith, who worked for the university for many years. Smith serves on student panels during Horizon program open houses, and also as a mentor and hostess.
Smith has recently been commissioned to the board for the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
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“It’s an incredible feeling to be able to say, ‘I am an honor student at Hollins University,’” said Olivia Body ’08, a single mother who attributes her success to her son, Riley, her wonderfully supportive family, and her experience at Hollins. “I wouldn't be where I am and who I am today [without them]. I have gained so much more self-confidence and pride in everything I accomplish just from being a part of the Hollins community,” she said. An English major and photography minor, Olivia said her goals keep expanding the longer she studies at Hollins. She will either go straight to graduate school after graduation, or find a job writing and taking photos for a magazine. Although Olivia was intimidated at first, she was also determined. “I needed this education,” she said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the way my life is right now.”
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Ann Richardson and her sister co-founded Dignitarians, an organization to educate the public about every person's equal right to dignity, regardless of status, economic level, physical ability, or education. The sisters started the organization after they experienced a difficult time with their aging and medically challenged parents. When her mother was terminally ill, Richardson became involved in the Roanoke End of Life Coalition, for which she continues to volunteer.
Through Dignitarians, Richardson promotes the work of Robert Fuller, author of Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank, which discusses the toll it takes on people who are treated as inferior.
Richardson's work with Dignitarians was also featured in an article in The New York Times.
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Angie Tabor wasn't fond of high school, but since entering the Horizon Program her entire outlook has changed, and her confidence has skyrocketed. She now intends to earn a Ph.D., teach, and “try to bring positive change into the public school system.” Angie found the Horizon Program when she was searching for a change in her life. “I was tired of working jobs where the money was good but the work was monotonous, stressful, or boring,” she said. Hollins has been her answer. She is an editor on the yearbook staff, helped victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Mississippi Gulf area during her January term, and went on a student trip to New York City. “It has been my great privilege to be a part of such a wonderful system,” she said. “The Horizon Program offers so much support and wonderful people.”
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Sharon Mirtaheri’s family never discussed college. Her mother and father were both factory workers, and Sharon was a hair stylist for 30 years. But for a long time, she said, she missed something. Once she retired, she decided it was time to do something for herself. She considered the community college route, feeling that the tuition at Hollins was prohibitive—but she attended a Horizon open house anyway and applied for a scholarship. "I was hugely shocked and immensely grateful to get a 60 percent scholarship,'' she said. “This is strictly a gift to myself. I’m not the kind of person to sit around and watch TV and eat bon-bons. I have an incredible work ethic from my mother.” She is now working on a double major in studio art and creative writing and has found emotional and academic support whenever she needed it.
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