Arkansa’s single parent scholarship funds month for the month of September 2024 is Holly Irons, a single mother from Garland County.
Holly first tried college in 2015 while recovering from drug abuse. She visited an adult education center and took a job boundary test. The two highest scores she received were for an actor and a social worker. But after taking this test, she became restless and scared. She came back and stopped going to classes.
This cycle repeated itself – get clean, go back to school, relapse – for years, until Holly “decided to take a chance and do something else,” she said. “The last and last time I used a drug was in August 2020.” Holly credit her Christian faith as the basis of her sobering journey.
Once sober, Holly started working at Lake Hamilton Health and Rehab as laundry. Supporting Holly’s dream of going back to school sponsored the nursing home her to study at Arkansa’s career training of Ozarks to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA).
Holly attended the National Park College from 2021-23, where she served her associate degree. In 2023, Holly started his bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Holly has been an ASPSF scholarship recipient since the fall of 2023.
Holly Irons trained with his associate degree from National Park College in 2023.
“I knew I would give back to society and inspire my children,” she said. “If someone like me could go to school and do things, they could too.”
Holly has seen his life transform through his hard work. She served her associate and immediately began working on her bachelor. She made the chancellor’s list in the fall of 2023 and the dean list in the spring of 2024. She even earned a promotion at work by becoming the social director of the nursing home.
But most importantly, Holly has seen his relationship with her children heal. Holly has a 14-year-old daughter and an adult son. Since going back to school, Holly has noticed that her daughter is spending more on school work and showing better behavior in general. Holly uses his flexible scholarship from ASPSF to pay her rent and spend more time with her daughter.
“Arkansa’s single parent Scholarship Fund has helped me see that there are people in our society who want to see others succeed and are willing to help,” she said. “The donors in this fund help break generational connections and create another reality for not only the parents but the children.”
Holly Irons (third row, third from right) receives its fall 2023 scholarship from Arkansa’s single parent scholarship find.
Holly expects to study with a bachelor next fall and hopes to sign up for a master’s degree program after graduation and become a licensed social worker. Her long -term goal is to open a nonprofit in Hot Springs to help children whose parents are in a facility, imprisonment or imprisonment. She is determined to use her experience with addiction in favor of her community with these degrees.
Congratulations, Holly, for being ASPSF’s Months September student! ASPSF recognizes your hard work and admires your academic and recovery journey.