{"id":51975,"date":"2025-05-10T09:34:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T14:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=51975"},"modified":"2025-05-09T09:36:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T14:36:37","slug":"finding-confidence-community-and-a-calling-shea-trumeters-journey-at-acc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/05\/10\/finding-confidence-community-and-a-calling-shea-trumeters-journey-at-acc\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Confidence, Community, and a Calling: Shea Trumeter\u2019s Journey at ACC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI never believed I could succeed in college\u2014now I\u2019m graduating with confidence, purpose, and a heart full of gratitude.\u201d – Shea Trumeter, ACC Graduate<\/em><\/p>\n

At 44, Shea Trumeter is celebrating something she once believed was out of reach: earning her Associate of Arts degree from Austin Community College District (ACC).<\/p>\n

\u201cI dropped out of high school as a teen, earned my diploma through a self-paced program, and spent years working full-time. I thought academia just wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d says Shea.<\/p>\n

Everything changed when she found ACC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I enrolled at ACC in spring 2023, I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect. I just knew I needed to push past the mentality that I wasn\u2019t capable,\u201d says Shea. \u201cI thought I would just keep my head down and go to school. I ended up forming meaningful connections. The people in my classes became guiding lights when things got tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s earning her Associate of Arts degree and preparing to transfer to a university to continue studying business and sociology, with a special focus on income inequality and economic justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to help revolutionize how businesses treat their workers. I\u2019m passionate about creating income equality and reducing the economic divide in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gives special credit to ACC math tutors\u2014Elizabeth, Brian, Sandra, Doan, and others\u2014for their patience, encouragement, and ability to meet her where she was. \u201cI cried, argued, and had a full-on \u2018math-itude\u2019 at times. But they never gave up on me. They sat with me, encouraged me, laughed with me\u2014and their kindness helped me heal some deeply ingrained pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of academics, ACC supported Shea in equally powerful ways. With the help of child care scholarships and a supportive counselor, Amber Huffman, Shea could manage school while raising her four children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout those childcare scholarships, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to succeed,\u201d she says. \u201cAmber\u2019s monthly check-ins were powerful. Just knowing someone was in my corner made a difference. That support gave me the chance to show up fully\u2014for my education, for my family, and for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she looks ahead to a bachelor\u2019s degree and a career focused on economic equity, Shea is proud to be an advocate for the power of accessible education.<\/p>\n

\u201cACC has changed my life, given me a newfound meaning and purpose and has helped me believe in myself. I’ve surpassed my own understanding of what I was capable of and have a newfound confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while Shea\u2019s academic future is bright, she\u2019s also making history in her personal life\u2014recently helping launch the first-ever National Women\u2019s Underwater Torpedo Exhibition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a proud mom, a partner, a student, and now, a college graduate. That\u2019s something I never thought I\u2019d say\u2014but here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Know a 2025 grad like Shea? Drop a congrats in the comments and celebrate their journey at austincc.edu\/commencement<\/a>.  <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI never believed I could succeed in college\u2014now I\u2019m graduating with confidence, purpose, and a heart full of gratitude.\u201d – Shea Trumeter, ACC Graduate At 44, Shea Trumeter is celebrating something she once believed was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":51976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15,17,19,1],"tags":[409,2185,991,4145,4146],"class_list":["post-51975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-students","category-facstaff-news","category-news-and-announcements","category-students-and-alumni","category-updates","tag-business","tag-congrats-grads-2","tag-sociology","tag-spring-2025-commencement","tag-spring-2025-graduation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}