Brooklyn Sumner
To commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the Higher Education Act, this week SLCC is joining institutions across the country in celebrating first-generation students. Check out our Instagram feed (saltlakecc) for more inspiring stories. #celebratefirstgen
At
age 6, Brooklyn Sumner was taken from her mother by the state and placed in foster
care. She bounced from home to home for the next three years until Lori and
Chet Sumner, ranch owners in Neola, Utah, took her in and later adopted her.
Brooklyn
struggled due to lingering childhood trauma, and she went through years of
therapy. At times she doubted she would graduate from high school, but through
hard work and perseverance she earned her diploma in 2011. Soon after, she
enrolled at Snow College.
Brooklyn
left Snow two years later without a degree, but in 2017 she decided to give
higher ed another try and enrolled at Salt Lake Community College. The
first-generation student is currently pursuing an Associate of Science degree
in anthropology.
Sumner
finds inspiration in overcoming her childhood challenges. “It propels me to
succeed,” she says. The 25-year-old gives full credit to her parents: “They
never gave up on me.”
She
admits that school isn’t easy and she struggled last semester because her
grandmother died and she lost her job, but she’s determined to graduate from
SLCC in 2020. She plans to continue school beyond SLCC and wants to work as an
archeologist at a museum or university.
