Determination, Support Help Owens Outstanding Grad Edens Reach Goals
When Tiffany Edens went through a divorce, she decided that pursuing higher education would be necessary to help her support her four children.
The journey from there to now graduating this month with an associate degree in Accounting Technology hasn’t been easy. With the support of family as well as faculty and staff at Owens Community College, though, Edens will graduate as the outstanding graduate in Business Technologies.
“Everything I do is for my kids. I want to be able to support and bless them,” Edens said. “The only way to make decent money in my field is to have a degree of some sort. I would tell myself I had just a few more weeks then I’ll have a break, then just four more courses then I’ll be graduated.”
Edens, of Toledo, was married at age nineteen and began having children one year later. She spent her time as a stay-at-home mom who didn’t work outside the home or take any college classes.
She first walked into Owens in January 2018. Since starting classes, she’s finalized her divorce and custody battles, moved twice and worked several full-time jobs, while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and challenges with her teenage children. Within the same week in 2022, her father and grandmother passed away, followed by her other grandmother this year.
Edens said she wouldn’t be where she is now without the support of Lindsey Whitcomb, assistant director of TRIO Student Support Services, along with Brandon Gaddy, director of TRIO. They helped with the FAFSA, student loans, special circumstances forms, tutoring and even helping her find her major.
“(Whitcomb) was there for me, semester after semester, year after year,” Edens said.
Edens also credited School of Business chair Reti Shutina for helping her with internships and making a connection with Betco Corporation, where she currently works as a Rebate and Contract Coordinator, along with academic advisor Andy Koenig and accounting professor Rama Kannan.
As a single mom, Edens has completed nearly all of her classes online and said the flexibility that Owens offered was important to her success. That flexibility even extended during the pandemic, when a professor met her outside of school since all of the buildings were closed.
“I have self-motivation of excelling and want to model this to my children. I want to inspire other single and divorced moms that it’s possible to juggle life and get a degree,” Edens said.