MEET OUR GRADUATES: Jacqueline Carroll â âAdversity is Often Preparation for Greatnessâ
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- MEET OUR GRADUATES: Jacqueline Carroll â âAdversity is Often Preparation for Greatnessâ
Beyond Carrollâs infectious smile is an individual whoâs overcome incredible odds.
Jacqueline Carroll has spent almost half of her life in foster care. Her father battled with drugs and died in Kennedy Plaza when she was nine. Her mother died last year after years of drug use. This communication major has overcome incredible odds to graduate from 51±ŹÁÏ.
âI never thought Iâd be a college student,â says Carroll. âGrowing up, we didnât know what college was. We were surrounded by people who felt lucky to graduate high school, who lived the same way their parents had lived â from assistance check to assistance check. I grew up in South Providence with my twin brother. When we could, we skipped school because we just didnât want to go and nobody was at home to say, âSchool is good for youâ or to help you with your homework.â
âMy brother and I are fraternal twins,â she says. âGrowing up, he had a learning disability â a very strong stutter, and I was the only one who could interpret what he was saying. He speaks almost perfectly, now. But I spent a long duration of my life taking care of him, translating for him and protecting him.â
After being removed from the home at ages four and eight, Carroll and her brother were placed with a permanent foster family in Cumberland at age 11. It would be their last foster home, but the transition from one way of life to another wouldnât be easy.
âFor the first time in our lives, we had structure,â she says. âWe were learning things like how to make our beds in the morning. I remember going out shopping with my foster mother and telling her, with tears in my eyes, that I just want to forget everything. I want to forget where I came from. And she said, âIf you hadnât had those experiences, you wouldnât be who you are today.â I owe a lot to this person who I now call my mother.â
Carroll began her freshman year at RIC in 2020, when the COVID pandemic hit and classes had moved online.
âI had a pretty rough start,â she says. âI have severe ADHD. Especially the attention part of the disorder. I was undiagnosed, unmedicated and completely unable to focus.â
Carroll needed the in-class interactions between student and teacher, which is hard to get over Zoom. She needed the structure of hearing a lecture in person, and she missed the in-class banter with classmates before class starts.
âThese are the social cues and interactions I rely on,â she says
As a result, her GPA plummeted. At one point, Carroll was facing academic dismissal. Her academic advisor, Professor Giselle Auger, fought hard for her to stay here.
Along with finding a champion in Auger, the Office of Disabilities Services gave her permission to take extra time on tests, while the Counseling Center helped her with the emotional stresses of being a college student.
âAt one point, I was going to the Counseling Center once a week,â she says. âIt was a huge help. Finally, I was medicated and able to focus better. My counselor got me through a lot of the hardships in my life by giving me the space to talk about them.â
In her sophomore year, she became an ambassador for RICâs Office of Undergraduate 51±ŹÁÏ, which involves leading campus tours for prospective students and their families.
âInteracting with the other ambassadors was how I made friends,â she says. âWe were also some of the first people to come back to campus after the pandemic. I felt more connected to the campus and I began to do better academically.â
In her final semester, Carroll was awarded the Hope Scholarship, which completely covered her tuition. However, it was the fact that the Hope Scholarship is based on merit that meant the most to her.
âI had gone from a 1.0 GPA in my freshman year to a 2.9 GPA in my senior year. On top of that, Iâm graduating a semester early. So, getting this scholarship has been validating. I worked hard to get here.â
A few months before end of her last semester, she got the call that her mother had died. âI was doing pretty well before my mom passed. It brought back a lot,â she says. But Carroll refuses to give up the ground she has gained.
Author Andy Andrews once said, âAdversity is preparation for greatness.â If thereâs one consistent thread that runs throughout Carrollâs life itâs the indefatigable drive to press on.
After graduating in December 2023, Carroll was hired as training coordinator for Leadership Rhode Island, where she is thriving.