Bettie Phillips-Jackson, 64, of Waldorf, or “Miss Bettie” as her fellow students call her, celebrates as her name is called at the College of Southern Maryland’s 18th Winter Commencement ceremony, held Jan. 19 at CSM’s La Plata Campus. Phillips-Jackson earned an associate degree in hospitality management. She is graduating with a 3.9 GPA and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
Earning this degree, however, was not easy for the mother of four and the grandmother of 11. She had to work her schooling in around caring for three of her grandchildren. “We would do our homework together,” she said. In addition to this full-time job, she experienced a couple of family tragedies during her years at CSM. Her father was diagnosed with cancer and Phillips-Jackson had to suspend her studies for a year while she moved to California to care for him. Then a brother was in a serious car accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. “I wanted to quit,” Phillips-Jackson said of her CSM studies. “I was so overwhelmed. Emotionally, I was just depleted.”
But Phillips-Jackson “kept chugging along,” she said, crediting the support of her professors for getting through that very difficult time and keeping her on track to complete her degree.
Phillips-Jackson started at CSM after serving in the military from 1981 to 2002, during which time she served in four combat tours and was stationed at bases all around the world, including Germany, Croatia and Korea. She earned two bachelor’s degrees and one master’s degree during her time in the military. She also worked with the U.S. Department of Defense as a contractor for many years after her military service. She decided to continue her education at CSM because she was looking for a different kind of educational environment than what she’d already experienced in the military. “My desire had always been to attend classes on a college campus, hang out with college students, eat in the cafeteria and carry a backpack,” Phillips-Jackson said. “CSM afforded me that opportunity, and, for that, I am grateful.”
Phillips-Jackson has already given back to CSM in many ways, encouraging and mentoring her fellow students, and also as a founding member of CSM’s Veterans Club that was instrumental in getting the Veterans Lounge established and in streamlining the administrative process for veterans.
Phillips-Jackson’s advice to other seniors considering taking courses at CSM is, “Do not be afraid. Step out on faith. The young minds can be intimidating, but they can also add to the learning experience.”
And that learning experience is something Phillips-Jackson said she likes. In fact, she plans to stay on at CSM after graduation and start work on her second associate degree, this time in criminal justice.