In fourth grade, Nicole Anthony took a standardized test. Even though the results showed that she was reading at an eighth or ninth grade level, her educational path remained unchanged. Nobody noticed. “I had a reasonable intellect, especially in English,” she said. “But I was quiet, and it was easy to fly under the radar.”
In high school, military recruiters showed up every day, from every branch. “All of the push was military, military, military, military,” Nicole said. She would ask herself and others, “Why aren’t they talking about college?”
Nicole was determined to set her own path anyway, and she had her sights on a four-year degree at an HBCU (Historically Black College or University). Then, one of her high school teachers suggested that she start at community college instead to save her family money. She took the advice.
Just a year later, Nicole transferred to North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, an HBCU she loved. “I was there for three semesters, but something fell through with my financial aid,” she said. “So, after going home for Christmas break one year, I was not able to go back.” Her grandmother had a stroke around the same time, and Nicole stayed home to help care for her. “Adult life was starting to take shape. Adult responsibilities and my financial reality made it unrealistic to go back to school, so I just got into the workforce.”
A Scarlet Letter
As Nicole moved through her professional career, the unfinished degree continued to nag her. “The degree was always in the back of my mind as this very unfinished thing,” she said. Nicole built a career in youth development and eventually landed at Rainier Scholars, where she’s spent five years as the Recruitment Director in Tacoma. For most of that time, she’s been the only staffer without a college degree.
“It has been my internal scarlet letter,” Nicole said. “I’ve just needed to overcome it to feel better about myself.”
Lately, the timing has felt personal in a new way. Her daughter started seventh grade this fall. “I am increasingly talking to her more about college, and I definitely want to be able to demonstrate finishing,” Nicole said. “Completing my degree will show that ‘I can do hard things,’ which is an important message for my daughter.”
Last year, Nicole decided to see how close she was to completing her associate’s degree. “Turns out, I already had enough credits to graduate.”
Riding the momentum, Nicole researched bachelor’s programs in child and youth development. The Global Campus program with Washington State University (WSU) was fully online and asynchronous, so she could begin right away. Nicole enrolled immediately. “I started in the summer,” she said, “and I just kept going.”
A Seat at the Table
For her final year as a student, Nicole applied for and was selected as WSU’s Student Regent. The Board of Regents is the governing body of WSU, whose governor-appointed members make decisions that shape the entire university system. Each year, the board reserves one seat for a student, appointed for a one-year term. This year, that student is Nicole.
She started on July 1, and since then, most of her time has gone toward listening: meeting with students across WSU’s six campuses (including the Global Campus) to understand their experiences, challenges, and needs; and with faculty to hear their perspective on the role. “It’s a very short amount of time to get up to speed,” she said, “and in anything that is political or systems-oriented, change happens slowly.” She’s still working out what she can accomplish that will be both meaningful and lasting in her one year on the board.
Two things have already become clear. The first is how little visibility the role has. “A lot of students don’t know what the Board of Regents is, let alone what a Student Regent is,” Nicole said. She hopes to help teach students about this tool for their voice at the highest level of power in the university.
The second is how much her own path shapes what she brings to the table. Nicole is the first Global Campus student ever to hold the role, representing the fastest-growing part of the university system. “I think the Global Campus represents the way school happens for a lot of people now,” she said. ”I always think it’s a gift when power sharing happens, when there are places of power that allow or invite people who are impacted by decisions to be part of decision-making processes.”
Nicole is already thinking beyond her own term. “My hope is to help improve systems that will outlast me by working with staff and gathering feedback from past regents to figure out what the role actually requires,” she said. “This way, future Student Regents won’t have to use months just to get oriented, and they will have more time to get things done.”
Coming Full Circle
It’s easy to see the throughline between Nicole’s work on the Board of Regents and her career trajectory and professional passions. “A lot of my work has been around empowering youth voices and elevating the lived experience of marginalized people,” she said. “Seeing that this role existed was not only exciting, but very aligned with my life’s work.”
As the Rainier Scholars Recruitment Director in Tacoma, Nicole’s job is to facilitate community connections. “We get the word out, find the people, and then manage the process from when scholars first hear about the program until they are fully enrolled,” she said. “We’re always trying to find ways to help connect the dots for parents. It’s not intuitive to be thinking about college for children when they’re nine.”
Nicole doesn’t expect the degree to meaningfully change how she shows up for Rainier Scholars, but she does anticipate that it will impact how she feels about herself. “It’ll help me feel like I deserve to be at the table by allowing me to pair years of on-the-ground knowledge with research, making my anecdotal experience richer and more data-informed,” she said.
Rainier Scholars was thrilled to support Nicole’s education journey, with members of staff writing recommendation letters and cheering her on. “The demonstration of our commitment to education extends to our staff,” Nicole said. “I really appreciate that.”
After spending years helping build the path to college for other people’s children, Nicole is walking that path herself. Throughout her career, Nicole has been the advocate for others that she could have used in fourth grade. After a decade of persistence, Nicole will earn her bachelor’s degree in human development, with a focus on child and youth development. Rainier Scholars is eager to celebrate with her when she crosses that finish line.