Three years went by without Wheeler thinking twice about going back to school, when Wheeler’s pastor friend shared about his positive experience at Grace College. He was completing his degree through a residential program offered at the time, and he highly recommended that Lewis look into it.
Wheeler inquired about the residential option at Grace and was disappointed to hear that it was only available for bachelor degree completion — not for the associate degree program which was launching its first-ever class that year. But the man on the other end of the phone assured Wheeler that this up and coming Associate’s Degree Online program would usher him to success.
“I remember him telling me that day, ‘We guarantee that you can be successful,’” said Wheeler. “He promised me that the class sizes would be small and the teachers would personally communicate with me and assist me,” he said.
Wheeler mustered all the hope he could, and he applied to Grace’s Associate’s Degree Online program in liberal arts.
“Grace made all the difference,” stated Wheeler. “There was buy-in from the professors. The classes were highly personalized and not overwhelming. And before classes ever started, we were taught how to access all of the online resources and platforms. That was a game-changer,” he recalled.
Wheeler also mentioned the spiritual encouragement that came from weekly emails from administrators with scripture. All of these elements made it possible for Wheeler to walk across the stage (with honors!) in 2019 and get the long-awaited diploma.
“It was absolutely surreal. I remember being at graduation and realizing that I never thought this would really happen,” said Wheeler.
He recalls the very moment that reality set in that he was a college graduate.
“It was after I loaded up my family into the car,” he said. “I hadn’t actually opened my diploma yet, because the woman sitting next to me opened hers to find a note saying she had one class yet to complete. I was nervous that mine would say the same. But my daughter grabbed my diploma from the back seat of the car, opened it up to me, and there it was — my diploma!” he beamed.
After such a positive experience with his Associate’s Degree Online program, Wheeler enrolled into Grace’s BS in Human Services, and just graduated in August of 2020.