Livestream / Thursday afternoon slideshow
After applying to virtually every university in Indiana and later wanting to quit her studies several times, one thing kept Evelyn Gleason determined to earn her bachelor’s degree at Grand Canyon University.
Her daughter, Hayley.
“I showed my daughter, who is now 10, that you can do it, and it’s never too late,” said Gleason, who delivered the commencement speech at Thursday afternoon’s commencement ceremony at Global Credit Union Arena for online and cohort students, one of six fall commencement ceremonies spanning three days.
“I did a different path, and perhaps it was the harder path. But I do believe if you work first and then add the academic part, you're so much more motivated. It gave me so much more joy than I guess (going to college) right away after school.”
Gleason earned her degree in supply chain and logistics management from the Colangelo College of Business 20 years after graduation from high school in her native Germany. She graduated from GCU in four years, but only after she navigated through multiple cultural, personal and professional challenges.
“I didn't have an easy upbringing,” Gleason said as she tried to fight off strong emotions. “There were a lot of people not believing in me, a lot of rejections, and I just did it on my own.
“I didn't talk a lot about it. A lot of people didn't even know that I (got) my degree. It was something for me. Thinking about the last four years and being in a different country, unloading my whole life here. I feel like I have achieved, really, everything I ever wanted, and I'm trying to process it.”
Gleason admitted she lacked the confidence to study after graduating from high school (she learned English in the fifth grade) and sought and found a practical career in supply chain management.
But that didn't ease all of the self doubt.
"When I was 22, my mother died of suicide, and in a single moment, the world ended up changed forever," she told her fellow graduates in her commencement talk. "Grief, shame and feelings of not being enough followed me for years, and I questioned my faith and my purpose.
"But God was not finished writing my story. He hadn't shown me my true purpose yet."
Gleason came to the United States in 2014 as an export agent. The challenges, however, persisted. She gave birth to Hayley but went through a divorce within a few years.
Hayley "became my greatest source of purpose and the reason I kept moving forward."
She managed to sustain her self-esteem through her work, advancing at Kuehne + Nagel and later with DHL. She joined Roche, a biotechnology research company, in 2022 as a senior supply chain associate and gained a zest for learning more.
“There definitely was a different push,” Gleason said. “If you want to be successful in your career, you also need to have your degree. It was a little bit of both, but there was the ambition of learning about the field I was working in for so long.”
The process of applying to colleges started with getting transcripts from Germany translated to English, a process in which Gleason enlisted the help of her father to retrieve them from her high school in Munich.
“My GPA wasn’t the greatest, but I was eager,” Gleason said. “I had the money, and I wanted to get my degree.”
Reality, however, started to settle in. She recalled applying to one university and receiving a notification of rejection one day later. That was just the start.
“It’s your ego and everything,” Gleason said. “I was devastated.”
Jo Jo Sanders, Gleason’s counselor, explained a few reasons.
“She would tell me people wouldn’t give her a chance because of her accent,” Sanders said. “People wouldn’t even entertain her. She applied to so many universities that didn’t want to deal with the international side of things, and some people wouldn’t give her a chance because they couldn’t understand her.
“I just kept saying Jeremiah 29:11:
"For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
“You can’t give up. There are people who do, but she pushed on through,” Sanders said. “The fact that she had to be rejected so many times before she got in, that’s why she kept thanking GCU. She put in the work. I’m just a cheerleader.”
After the wave of rejection notices, Gleason said she received words of encouragement from her ex-husband, who said, “Don't give up and just try to see if you can apply somewhere else online.”
Gleason looked into GCU and its online supply chain management courses, and the application process went smoothly.
"That little word, 'yes,' changed my life," Gleason said. "When I was accepted, something changed inside of me. For the first time in a long time, I felt seen, welcomed and like I belonged. My purpose seemed to be clearer."
Once classes started, some adjustments were still required, such as translating the word fraction into German, learning to write papers and carving time on Saturdays for her daughter and for running.
“But it was just awesome because I got to get a new chance to actually redo things, such as studying or writing papers. I discovered that I literally love writing papers and sitting down, doing research, and just taking the time.”
She also proved a point to those who scoffed that she wouldn’t learn anything by getting her bachelor’s degree.
“I did learn a lot, perhaps not everything in my field. But I got more professional, like just writing a paper.”
There was another surprise Gleason encountered that turned out to be a perk after she enrolled at GCU. She regained her faith.
“I didn't know that GCU was a Christian-based university,” Gleason said. “I thought, ‘What is Christian worldview?’“
Sanders said Gleason delayed taking her required Christian worldview class until the latter portion of her academic journey, but Gleason soon realized “GCU was helping me to guide me also for my faith and bring me closer to God.”
One of the most significant moments of her faith journey occurred in April, when she was baptized.
"God met me in my brokenness, restored my heart and renewed my soul with the peace I had been searching for my whole life," Gleason said during her speech.
Whenever she felt overwhelmed with coursework and contemplated quitting, Sanders would remind her, “Everything was in God’s plan. You were meant to be here at GCU, and you were meant for us to accept you.
“The fact she kept getting A’s meant she was doing something right.”
Gleason’s real life and work experiences provided a good mix that she could apply to her curriculum, Sanders added.
Gleason will start a new position with Eli Lily, a pharmaceutical company, at the end of the month. She hopes to leave a lasting mark with professionals who returned to college after a long gap.
“I want to show them they’re not alone,” Gleason said. “That it took me a long time to figure out where I belong and heal my heart.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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GCU News: Trading baseball diamond for the next challenge, business management degree
GCU News: Grad whose businesses celebrate African diaspora feeds her academic curiosity at GCU
