Not even a worldwide pandemic could keep Julia Wickersham from completing her studies and earning both an associate degree and a career studies certificate this past May.
About 3½ years ago, with her youngest of three children starting preschool, she decided to enroll at Laurel Ridge.
“Now that I didn’t have kids in the house 24/7, it made me think about what I wanted to do for myself from here on out,” Wickersham said.
She started off taking classes part time, but later trended up to full time. Unsure of the path she would take, Wickerham originally signed up for one class in computer science and one class in accounting.
“I ended up really enjoying both and decided to continue with both,” she said. “I really appreciate the opportunity I had to learn at Laurel Ridge. They have really good, strong instructors who will work hard with you. Computer Science Professor Melissa Stange was by far my favorite teacher.”
At this spring’s commencement, Wickersham received an associate degree in accounting and a career studies certificate in computer science. She recently moved to Centreville from Front Royal and hopes to work as a forensic accountant while pursuing her bachelor’s degree.
While at Laurel Ridge she was in Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges. She was even able to maintain her 4.0 GPA despite both her own and her children’s schooling became remote only due to coronavirus.
Explore all of Laurel Ridge’s programs at laurelridge.edu/explore.
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.