Graduation at Madison Area Technical College
Resolve and family support
Resolve and family support
By Jonathan Gramling
Life has kept coming at Asabi Hayes and she has fought off reasons to give up and accept
things the way they are. While it might not have been exactly on time, her graduation from MATC
on May 14 was definitely in time.
Hayes had it going on as a high school student in Chicago’s Hyde Park. She went to Kenwood
Academy, the first integrated school she attended. Hayes describes it as upper middle class. “I
thought it was very racially-diverse until I looked at my high school class picture and thought ‘Oh
my goodness,’ it wasn’t as diverse as I thought,” Hayes said during an interview with The Capital City
Hues after her graduation. Hayes graduated in 1990 and enrolled at Harold Washington College, a
junior college named after the late Harold Washington, the first Black mayor of Chicago.
But then life started catching up with her. She got a good paying job as an insurance agent
and dropped out. Then she started having children. She made a brief comeback try at college in
1996, but it didn’t work out. “I didn’t go back for me,” Hayes said. “I was trying to meet everyone else’
s expectations but my own. So it didn’t really work well for me.”
Hayes moved to Madison in 1997 and by 2006, she was the mother of three daughters and
working in real estate management. But she knew she would go no further unless she went back to
| Asabi Hayes never let her aspirations for an education die as she coped with life’s challenges. |
school. “In 2007, I found that there was a program for working adults at MATC,” Hayes said. “It’s a Fast Track program. We went to school one night a week. If you
do that for 18 months, you receive a certificate in supervisory management. They have a bunch of other programs. But I was interested in the supervisory
management program. I said ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead and get this certificate.’ I thought it was going to be very difficult, but found that it was quite easy and I enjoyed
it. I had the full support of my family.”
One of the nice features of the Fast Track program is the students spend a lot of time together and bond as an academic family. “Everyone was very
supportive,” Hayes said. “It was like a family. We were there from 5-9 p.m. every Thursday night. We took turns preparing food. It was great. I went to one of my
classmate’s wedding. We learned to work in teams.”
Going back to school was a big decision for Hayes because of her maternal and professional responsibilities. And then there was the fact that she had been
out of school for over 15 years. A lot of fear and doubt made her think real hard before giving it a try. “The barriers I faced were childcare and carrying around a
lot of emotional baggage,” Hayes said. “I think the emotional baggage was the biggest barrier. Everything else was really up to me. The fear of failure was hard
to overcome. I’ve always known that I was intelligent. I’ve always known that I could succeed. However, there was always that ‘But what if I don’t succeed at this
thing?’ I didn’t understand that maybe it would be okay if I failed at this thing because that may not have been my destiny. That fear of failure gets a whole lot of
people. It came to the point where I just didn’t care any more. If you fall flat on your face, then you get back up and you try it again.”
Hayes overcame that fear and realized through her experience at Fast Track that she had what it took and started to set her eyes on an Associates degree.
In February 2008, Hayes lost her job and ended up with a lot of time on her hands and made up her mind to put herself on her own fast track to get her degree.
She took some summer school courses and then took a 24 credit load in fall 2008.
“I said to my family ‘I need your support,’” Hayes said. “’I need you to understand that I am asking you to sacrifice for me for a year so I can push forward and
get this degree.’ I did 24 credits last semester and 15 credits this semester and completed it. I was determined to finish. In the past, I thought it was going to be
more difficult for me to work and go to school and also be dedicated to my family. But I found that I don’t have to necessarily sacrifice one for the other. So it
has been great. I do live a very full life. My dad always said ‘Live life to the fullest.’ He also told me to push forward to make sure that everything works so that I
can provide a quality life for my children and give back to the community.”
While she was busy finishing her degree at MATC, Hayes was also busy lining up her next academic move. “I applied to Roosevelt University in Chicago,”
Hayes said. “They have this wizard where you put in some basic information and they tell you what scholarships you are eligible for. I toyed around with it and
qualified for a scholarship. I will be working on my Bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership at Roosevelt University beginning in the fall. And I decided
that since I am in real estate — I’ve been in property management for the past six years — and they have a real estate program at Roosevelt as well, while I am
working on my Bachelor’s degree my senior year, I will be eligible to also work on my Master’s there as well. So I am going to work on my Master’s in real estate at
Roosevelt University.”
Hayes’ advice to other students would be to not wait 15 years before finishing their education. “People need to understand that there are going to be
obstacles no matter what,” Hayes said. “You just have to not allow those obstacles to stop you from doing what it is that you want to do. And even if you stop,
never let go of the dream and continue to push forward, even if it means you have to let it go for 1-2 years. Do not lose sight of what it is that you want to do in
life.”
And what does Hayes want to do in life? After finishing her education, she plans to continue her career in real estate management. But this time, she’ll be
managing her own properties, not someone else’s.
do that for 18 months, you receive a certificate in supervisory management. They have a bunch of other programs. But I was interested in the supervisory
management program. I said ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead and get this certificate.’ I thought it was going to be very difficult, but found that it was quite easy and I enjoyed
it. I had the full support of my family.”
One of the nice features of the Fast Track program is the students spend a lot of time together and bond as an academic family. “Everyone was very
supportive,” Hayes said. “It was like a family. We were there from 5-9 p.m. every Thursday night. We took turns preparing food. It was great. I went to one of my
classmate’s wedding. We learned to work in teams.”
Going back to school was a big decision for Hayes because of her maternal and professional responsibilities. And then there was the fact that she had been
out of school for over 15 years. A lot of fear and doubt made her think real hard before giving it a try. “The barriers I faced were childcare and carrying around a
lot of emotional baggage,” Hayes said. “I think the emotional baggage was the biggest barrier. Everything else was really up to me. The fear of failure was hard
to overcome. I’ve always known that I was intelligent. I’ve always known that I could succeed. However, there was always that ‘But what if I don’t succeed at this
thing?’ I didn’t understand that maybe it would be okay if I failed at this thing because that may not have been my destiny. That fear of failure gets a whole lot of
people. It came to the point where I just didn’t care any more. If you fall flat on your face, then you get back up and you try it again.”
Hayes overcame that fear and realized through her experience at Fast Track that she had what it took and started to set her eyes on an Associates degree.
In February 2008, Hayes lost her job and ended up with a lot of time on her hands and made up her mind to put herself on her own fast track to get her degree.
She took some summer school courses and then took a 24 credit load in fall 2008.
“I said to my family ‘I need your support,’” Hayes said. “’I need you to understand that I am asking you to sacrifice for me for a year so I can push forward and
get this degree.’ I did 24 credits last semester and 15 credits this semester and completed it. I was determined to finish. In the past, I thought it was going to be
more difficult for me to work and go to school and also be dedicated to my family. But I found that I don’t have to necessarily sacrifice one for the other. So it
has been great. I do live a very full life. My dad always said ‘Live life to the fullest.’ He also told me to push forward to make sure that everything works so that I
can provide a quality life for my children and give back to the community.”
While she was busy finishing her degree at MATC, Hayes was also busy lining up her next academic move. “I applied to Roosevelt University in Chicago,”
Hayes said. “They have this wizard where you put in some basic information and they tell you what scholarships you are eligible for. I toyed around with it and
qualified for a scholarship. I will be working on my Bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership at Roosevelt University beginning in the fall. And I decided
that since I am in real estate — I’ve been in property management for the past six years — and they have a real estate program at Roosevelt as well, while I am
working on my Bachelor’s degree my senior year, I will be eligible to also work on my Master’s there as well. So I am going to work on my Master’s in real estate at
Roosevelt University.”
Hayes’ advice to other students would be to not wait 15 years before finishing their education. “People need to understand that there are going to be
obstacles no matter what,” Hayes said. “You just have to not allow those obstacles to stop you from doing what it is that you want to do. And even if you stop,
never let go of the dream and continue to push forward, even if it means you have to let it go for 1-2 years. Do not lose sight of what it is that you want to do in
life.”
And what does Hayes want to do in life? After finishing her education, she plans to continue her career in real estate management. But this time, she’ll be
managing her own properties, not someone else’s.