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It was Shannon Walker's voice that got him in the door at Bethune-Cookman University in 2003.
As a high-school choir singer, he visited what was then known as Bethune-Cookman College and met the school's longtime choral director, Rebecca Walker Steele, no relation. She liked his singing and encouraged him to apply. When he did, it was her voice that left a lasting impression on him.
"She always said things like 'keep going,'" Walker said in an interview this week. "I kind of kept that in the back of my mind.”
It was there long after Walker dropped out of Bethune-Cookman. And it was there as he re-entered B-CU as a 30-something fraud analyst at Bank of America.
Her voice − her encouragement − will undoubtedly cross his mind Saturday as he walks across the stage of the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center in Daytona Beach and takes his bachelor's diploma, completing a two-decade odyssey.
First-generation college students and dropping out
The graduation rate of first-generation college students lags behind those students who have parents or older siblings who have completed a four-year program. Only a little more than one-quarter of first-generation students graduate within four years.
Walker said being the first among his parents and four siblings to attend a four-year college contributed to his inability to keep up with the work when he first enrolled at Bethune-Cookman.
He had never been away from home. And he lacked maturity, as many do at 18 or 19 years old. He found himself falling behind. He lasted three or four years, and had completed almost two years of work, as he saw his grades slip.
"I feel like I was just unmotivated. I didn’t really have parents to be like, ‘You’ve got to finish school,’ or any of that, so I just ended up stopping, and I moved back home,” he said.
Building a career, renewing interest in education
After living at home a bit, Walker tried to make it in Atlanta, but he struggled to find a job so he moved back to has parents' home.
Eventually, he landed at Bank of America, which offers tuition assistance to its employees.
And he became aware of what it would take to move into a field that interested him most: human resources: more education.
People with four-year college degrees can expect to earn 50% more in salary than high-school graduates in the five years following graduation, a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows. Over a lifetime, studies show the earnings will likely be even greater.
Those kinds of facts feed the hunger of some adults. Walker decided it was time to go back.
"I actually registered for classes here in Jacksonville at Florida State College," Walker said. "I thought about it ... I have invested so much into Bethune-Cookman at this point. I would have been kind of starting over (at FSC), as opposed to coming back to Cookman, where I would be almost done."
Overcoming nerves
Online courses were available. He started slow, with two courses in the fall of 2022.
“I was nervous because I hadn’t been to school in years, so but I was a little bit more focused this time – a lot more focused, actually – this time than I was the first time," Walker said.
That his employer was paying also put a bit of pressure on him to perform well.
Walker graduates with a bachelor's degree in liberal studies. He had started in business administration, but that program has changed significantly over the years and he would have had to redo some of the courses.
He was able to do the rest of the course work in less than two years, mostly with online courses, although he was able to take one class at B-CU's Hastings location not far from Jacksonville.
In addition to the voice of his choir teacher, Shanon Walker credits maturity for his drive to complete his studies at B-CU and to enger graduate school.
He is studying for a master's degree in human resources management at Trident International University.
Walker wants his story to be an example and inspire others.
"Nine times out of ten, if you’re older, you’re more focused now to complete what you started," he said.
“It’s rewarding to go ahead and finish, so you can walk across the stage.”
Beyoncé's foundation director to speak
Walker will be among 347 students to earn degrees at the school's 120th anniversary commencement on Saturday morning at the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center in Daytona Beach.
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Those graduates and their guests will hear from commencement speaker Ivy McGregor, executive director of BeyGOOD Foundation, a charity founded by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. McGregor's work has been focused on economic equity, eradicating homelessness and empowering women entrepreneurs.
In 2018, Beyoncé used her headlining Coachella Music Festival performance to spotlight HBCU marching bands, then capped it by announcing four $25,000 scholarships to students at HBCUs, with one going to a Bethune-Cookman graduate student .
“Her commitment to bold innovation and strategic partnerships echoes the spirit of our beloved founder, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. Ms. McGregor’s words will inspire our graduates to strive for excellence as they ‘depart to serve’ a more equitable future," William Berry, acting president and provost at B-CU, said in a university news release.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Jacksonville native to earn Bethune-Cookman bachelor's degree — 20 years after starting