My journey in higher education has taken me from community college dropout to assistant professor, making headlines after I paid off what would now amount to more than $200,000 in student debt after questioning whether academics would even factor into my path in life. Reflecting on what began almost 20 years ago, it’s hard for me to embrace how challenging the beginning of my journey was and how rewarding the process has become. As an 18-year-old high school graduate, I was unclear on where life would take me. I was accepted into a few four-year colleges, but I chose to stay local, full of confidence I would breeze through the classes at Tompkins Cortland Community College and be well on my way to millionaire status by the time I was 30 years old. It wouldn’t be as easy as I had assumed. As a business administration major, I failed Accounting …