Rebound Stories

 

 

  1. Home
  2.  » Stories

Academic Rebounds

‘Why not try?’

The rejection letters for grad school kept coming, but that didn’t deter Amanda Reeder from realizing her goal of getting into physical-therapy school.

‘I had never done college before.’

Dr. Tim Miller is the Vice President of Student Affairs at JMU. Getting there required lots of steps, but the first would be getting through calculus.

An injury, a championship and then what?

Rodney McCarter got injured but came back to play in and win JMU’s first football National Championship in 2004. But the high of that game wouldn’t last.

Self-Care Rebounds

Working hard when you don’t believe you can do it

Dr. Josh Bacon is the dean of students at JMU, but getting to that position included numerous rebounds. Much of what he has had to overcome is that voice inside that tells us we can’t do something well. But he learned from his grandfather’s example and continued to persevere.

She just kept pushing through the challenges

Ashley Perez faced an injury while playing for the women’s basketball team at JMU that put her hopes of playing after college in doubt. She pushed through the injury, and now she uses that challenge to help others.

‘I’m doing good things for myself’

When Dylan Gay faced a slump during his sophomore year, he reached out to his sister for help. She encouraged him to become involved as an Orientation Peer Adviser, and once he did, things began to turn around.

Plan A and Plan B didn’t work. What now?

Calli Dukas struggled with her mental health after tranferring to JMU. Getting involved with a group of students in SGA provided the support she needed to get through.

‘I can’t do this…I don’t want to be here’

Sophie LewFew was miserable during FrOG Week, a time when freshmen seem to be bubbling over with excitement about the year ahead. Finding a community helped connect her to the rest of the JMU community.

Connecting to Community

‘I’m doing good things for myself’

When Dylan Gay faced a slump during his sophomore year, he reached out to his sister for help. She encouraged him to become involved as an Orientation Peer Adviser, and once he did, things began to turn around.

‘Always something better’

Catie Harper didn’t get in to her first-choice school, so she spent her first semester at JMU trying to find her place. Eventually she did, and now she sees all the opportunities she would have missed had she gotten in to that school.

A crisis of his own

Dr. Lennis Echterling teaches crisis intervention in the graduate psychology department. A few years ago, he faced his own crisis and found himself drawing on strength from others.

Plan A and Plan B didn’t work. What now?

Calli Dukas struggled with her mental health after tranferring to JMU. Getting involved with a group of students in SGA provided the support she needed to get through.