NOT LETTING GO
Deborah Foley receives degree despite personal challenges
Management Information Systems major Deborah Foley started her East Carolina University journey 30 years ago in Massachusetts when she tried to finish her undergraduate degree during a time where she says, “Life started,” including a marriage, several attempts at different colleges, and a son.
Once her son, Michael, was born, he was her focus. “I wanted to enjoy his childhood,” she said. Life again happened, and she and her 7-year-old son moved to Marshville, North Carolina, where she focused on him until he graduated high school.
Life happens
In July 2016, Foley was diagnosed with colon cancer. From September to December of that year, radiation and chemotherapy treatments became part of her life. Unphased, she focused on her son and his college pursuits, and she then remembered a certain dream.
“I remembered that one dream I had when I promised my mother I would get my degree,” said Foley. “I kept thinking, ‘What am I waiting for?’ All those college visits in March and April (with my son) made me regret I had not finished (college). It was then I decided to stop regretting and do something. The cancer was removed, and my follow-up treatment was finished.”
Three billboards around eastern North Carolina
Debbie Foley’s path to a four-year degree had numerous challenges. However, she stayed committed to her goal. (Contributed photo)
Foley looked at numerous online programs in and out of North Carolina. She spoke with friends who completed their degrees online and described their experiences as not that bad.
“On my way to work one morning, I saw a billboard promoting ECU as the leader in online education,” said Foley. “On the way home, there was another one. For the next week, it seemed that ECU was popping up everywhere on billboards. Being a believer in signs, I figured I should at least check it out.”
Foley checked out the management information systems concentration in the College of Business. She thought this degree path would align nicely with the career path she was charting at Atrium Health, where she currently works as an application specialist/architect.
“I did a lot of research on the ‘leader in online education’ to see what others thought,” Foley said. “I was impressed with the feeling of being a student of the college even though (some) students were not physically on campus.”
In September 2017, she enrolled as a junior in the COB.
On being an online student, Foley said the program gave her the flexibility she needed to get a degree and work full time. “I liked the idea that the courses followed the same college path as on-campus students. Some schools have shorter sessions but cram so much into it that it makes managing school and life harder. I liked the same style so I could feel part of the school, even though I wasn’t on campus.”
Life happens, again
Working. Getting an education. Foley had a lot on her plate for the past three years. Then in April 2020, a pathology report showed a recurrence of her colon cancer.
She recently finished her latest rounds of chemotherapy, and Foley says, “So far, the numbers look great.”
Foley will graduate with her Bachelor of Science in business administration with a management information systems concentration in December. How did she do it?
“I credit a lot of my strength to (being a positive) person,” said Foley. “Once I commit to something, I rarely let it go.”