SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Yavapai College Student to Complete Bachelor's Degree After 21 Years of Perseverance

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

Send us a text and chime in!Yavapai College student Ashley Darling is about to earn her Bachelor's Degree after more than 21 years of learning. Artist, entrepreneur, teacher, mom, and lifelong learner, Darling is now just three classes from completing her degree, achieving something she started at Yavapai College more than 21 years ago when she was a homeless but idealistic teenager who loved learning. The woman who essentially grew up at YC’s Prescott campus is close to earning a bachelor’s degree in business thanks to what she calls “tenacity that’s spicy strong,” to life-changing grants and scholarships, and to a YC “community” that willed her... For the written story, read here >> https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/yavapai-college-student-to-complete-bachelors-degree-after-21-years-of-perseverance/Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Text to Speech Audio Articles made possible by Cast 11 Talking Glass Media. Yavapai College student Ashley Darling is about to earn her bachelor's degree after more than 21 years of learning. Artist, entrepreneur, teacher, mom, and lifelong learner. Darling is now just three classes from completing her degree, achieving something she started at Yavapai College more than 21 years ago when she was a homeless but idealistic teenager who loved learning. The woman who essentially grew up at YC's Prescott campus is close to earning a bachelor's degree in business thanks to what she calls tenacity that's spicy strong, to life-changing grants and scholarships, and to a YC community that willed her to succeed. You're not just taking a class.

Everyone really wants you to be successful. I felt that care. It's still there, she said of YC faculty and staff. Reflecting on the tenacity that kept her grinding one, two, or three classes at a time year after year, Ashley said, I'm the first person in my family to look to higher education as a means to provide a better future. And through my journey, I've witnessed a clear line of change leading to new opportunities, successes, and dreams never before dreamed in my family. The final leg of Ashley's YC journey was made more memorable by news of a prestigious scholarship from the Community College Baccalaureate Association. She is one of three Community College bachelor's degree students in the country named a CCBA scholar and honored earlier this year

during the organization's annual conference in Austin. The award humbled Ashley and taught her something valuable about the CCBA's mission. They're trying to help people stay in their communities and reach their goals. It's incredible to see people out there trying to help people like me, she said. Ashley grew up in both Payson and Phoenix, landing in the Prescott area after graduating from high school in 2003 and striking out on her own. A stellar student with creative gifts, she enrolled in music classes at YC that fall, despite not having a place to live or a career goal at the time. I loved music, and I loved learning, Ashley said, recalling the impetus for becoming a college student. Soon, she was also tackling scary math and English classes, figuring she would need them if she decided to pursue an associate's degree one day.

Branching into visual art classes, Ashley fell in love with photography and launched a business with her newfound skills. that venture, along with a clothing and costume design business, a part-time position at a local credit union, and teaching art to homeschooled students, combined to keep Ashley's family afloat when devastating, deeply personal crises struck more than once over the years. Even when dealing with heartbreaking loss, Ashley never gave up on the education she knew would give her a leg up in the business world and improve her family's economic prospects. Only lack of money or child care conspired to keep her out of school for a semester or two over the course of her long, steady journey. To date, Ashley's hard work and perseverance have earned her two

associate degrees and multiple certificates. It's the bachelor's degree that is the ultimate prize, enabling her to strengthen her business ventures, which now also include graphic design and illustration, and expand into bigger and more lucrative opportunities. She dreams of someday designing for big-name businesses like Patagonia, Columbia, or Hallmark. With the business knowledge that I have now, I understand how to represent my business to get major counts, she said. Ashley initially intended to pursue a bachelor's degree at Arizona State University but determined it was cost prohibitive. When she saw a social media post in January 2023 announcing that YC was launching an affordable business bachelor's program, she said, it really

felt like the universe answered my call. Although she started in the program's entrepreneurial track, she has since switched to the digital marketing emphasis to learn skills she's confident will help her stand out in a sea of artists. Ashley's college journey and business pursuits coincided with raising her four children, Gwen, 19, Annabelle, 16, Troy, 14, and Aletta, three. Gwen is a freshman at Northern Arizona University. Annabelle and Troy are starting dual credit classes at YC next year, and Aletta attends the Dell E Webb Family Enrichment Center at YC.

Although it has taken me forever to get my degrees, through the process of getting an education and sharing that process with my children, they've also fallen in love with learning, she said. They know a higher education path is for them. Explore Ashley's art and learn more about her business pursuits at finiard-stickersco.com and Yavapai College operates six campuses and centers throughout Yavapai County and offers more than 100 degrees and certificates, two baccalaureate degrees, student and community services, and cultural events and activities. To learn more about YC, visit www.org.edu. Read more stories from Education on Signalsaz.com.

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