whether it's through a 4-year University, a community college, or a trade school, education is the golden ticket.

#edwardsfororangecounty #edwardsforocs #OrangeCountySchools #publicschools #nced #NCEducation

There are countless people across our county, state, and country for whom education has unlocked doors and I want every student in Orange County Schools to receive that same opportunity

Education didn’t just give us degrees, it gave us opportunities and the confidence to aim higher.

I followed a similar path. After high school, I spent about a decade working minimum wage jobs before realizing I needed a change. Returning to school changed everything, I earned my associate’s degree from Durham Tech and my bachelor’s from UNC Pembroke in 2016.

Mom also took a leap. After decades in restaurants and administrative work, she returned to school in 2012. We actually graduated together from Durham Technical Community College in 2014, and she went on to earn her bachelor’s in social work from Meredith College in 2016.

Things started to change when Dad went back to college as an adult and earned his associate’s degree. Learning computer programming opened doors to better jobs, and over time, it allowed our family to buy a home and create the life we’d worked so hard for.