Highlighting Excellence 3: Yvette Thomas
Non-Traditional Excellence:
One of the greatest strengths of our student body is our diversity, but one aspect of diversity that is often overlooked is diversity of experience. Non-traditional students bring differing perspectives to conversations. They demonstrate that the path of life isn’t linear, they prove that there is no one right path for us to follow. With that in mind, I’d love to introduce you to Yvette Thomas.
Yvette is a third generation Pacific Tiger. But in this, as in most things, she defies tradition. Unlike most legacy students, her mother and daughter are both alumni. Yvette is graduating this spring, she’s majoring in Psychology, and on campus she is a member of the Veteran Students Organization, the Black Student Union and the Christian Club. When I asked her about her off-campus involvements, Yvette humbly said that she volunteers with the organization Bread of Life to “help feed people experiencing homelessness in my community.”
In addition, Yvette Thomas is a Sunday school teacher and youth choir director at Mosswood Park Church of God, a volunteer at the Stockton Civic Theatre, and a member of the Stockton Portsmen Choir.
When asked what adversity she has had to overcome to be where she is today, Yvette had this to say:
“I have overcome the residual effects of having breast cancer. I have overcome dealing with PTSD daily and go to class every day and complete the assigned homework.”
Yvette’s proudest accomplishment at Pacific is simply being where she is today, and obtaining her degree. Yvette is a veteran, something she says has a lot of challenges in and of itself. She says that despite many challenges, she has “stayed on task and completed the goal. “I did not give up or quit, and I am most proud.”
As is tradition on this column, I asked Yvette what piece of advice she would offer to a new student at Pacific. She echoed the comments made in previous pieces about contacting your advisors. However, she emphasized that students shouldn’t be “afraid or ashamed to ask for assistance from your professors, counselors, family or social network” and that “it's okay to not be OK, ask for help.”
In closing, Yvette said that she is “eternally grateful for the opportunity to attend this great university. This is one of the best experiences of my life. I will treasure every experience of being a UOP student. I am forever a tiger.”