Early Childhood Education Helped Yolanda Heal and Find Her Purpose
For Yolanda, the path to college did not follow a traditional timeline. While she was earning her GED through the Tri-County Urban League, she met the ICC TRIO team, who encouraged her to consider college and helped her begin imagining a different future.
Education is freedom. Nobody can take that away from you.
Yolanda, ICC graduate
That encouragement became the bridge that led Yolanda to Illinois Central College. She began taking Health Certificate Career courses and earned her Certified Nurse’s Assistant credential. While working in the medical field, she continued reflecting on what truly called to her. She had always felt drawn to teaching and helping others, even if she was not yet sure what form that would take.
She returned to ICC and enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program to pursue her professional goal of becoming a teacher. What she did not expect was how deeply the coursework would shape her personally.
Through learning about brain development, bonding, and child psychology, Yolanda began to understand more about her own childhood and her role as a parent. Studying developmental theorists and the stages of growth brought emotional and healing moments inside the classroom. Early Childhood Education became more than a career path. It became a tool for self-discovery.
Turning pain into purpose
When she was close to finishing the program, Yolanda experienced an unimaginable loss when her son was shot and killed. Grief made it difficult to concentrate or continue, and she stepped away from school. Even then, she never gave up on education.
Yolanda later returned to ICC and earned both her Basic and Advanced Early Childhood Education Certificates. Today, she uses the skills she gained at ICC to organize, plan, and lead community-focused work.
She founded Mothers War on Violence Ministry, helped create the John Buckley Memorial Garden as a trauma-informed healing space, and works as a Community Health Worker and community outreach advocate. She credits the Early Childhood Education program at ICC with helping save her life and giving purpose to her pain.
ICC has been part of Yolanda’s life through many seasons. Early Childhood Education became the program that helped her heal, grow, and discover her purpose. Her story is a powerful reminder that it is never too late to learn, rebuild, and create a better future.