Robin Ross
Learn how single mom Robin Ross changed her life and became the first person in her family to earn a degree with help from the College Housing Assistance Program.
I knew I needed housing to succeed. I needed a home where my family and I could lay our heads down every night, and be safe and secure."
Robin Ross was a single mom who attended TCC. Her housing situation was insecure, and she was in danger of dropping out of school. She applied for housing through the College Housing Assistance Program, a partnership between TCC and the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA), and was accepted.
“I don’t know what I would have done without housing help,” she said. “I didn’t allow myself to go there. I showed THA how serious I was about my education. I knew I needed housing to succeed. I needed a home where my family and I could lay our heads down every night, and be safe and secure.”
She graduated with an associate’s degree from TCC in winter 2016 with a 3.96 grade point average(GPA). The first in her family to earn a degree, Ross has transferred to The Evergreen State College for the remainder of her undergraduate studies. She aspires to earn her master’s in psychology or sociology and later, her doctorate.
“My motto has been it’s now or never,” she said. “I returned to school 20 years after I left. I’m going to go all the way to the top, until I can go no further.”
She proudly says her son has a 3.5 GPA. “He vows to beat my GPA one day,” she said. “He says, I’m going to TCC next year, Mom. Just like you.”