On a perfect, sunny day in May, as Emmeline Orellana crossed the stage during the Johnson & Wales graduate commencement ceremony, she reflected back on the ten years it had taken to arrive at this moment. From beginning a bachelor’s degree at JWU in 2014 to completing her online master’s degree through JWU College of Professional Studies in 2024, not all of her days had been sunny — and certainly her life had not been perfect.
Emmeline always worked two jobs while pursuing her bachelor’s degree full-time and later while studying full-time for her master’s degree. During 2020, Emmeline became pregnant at the same time COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Working until her son was born in January 2021, she then became a single parent, faced with raising her son on her own.
Returning to work at a new organization and passionately advocating for policies to help families access services and improve their economic stability, Emmeline, as a single parent, shared the same financial challenges with the families she was helping.
Her mission to develop leadership skills with the goal to one day run for public office — and her drive to make a good life for her son — inspired Emmeline to return to JWU a second time to earn a Master of Public Administration degree.
So, on commencement day, Emmeline was understandably proud of her accomplishment and grateful for the support she had received from family and friends, and her academic advisor, financial planner and professors at JWU CPS. Most significant, she achieved her desire to model for her son the importance of lifelong learning and academic success.
A Mission for Community Service
I’ve been building my education and work experience for ten years towards the goal of serving families in my local community. From 2014 – 2018, I was an on-campus student at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, earning a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. During that time and following graduation, I worked for seven years as a legal assistant in a position that involved immigration law. While working at the law office, I also held other part-time positions with different organizations, including a nonprofit group that provided Home-Based Therapeutic Services (HBTS) for children with disabilities.
Initially I wanted to be a police officer, but working in direct services guided me in a different direction.
After completing an internship at the law office and graduating with my bachelor’s degree in 2018, I worked full-time with the Key Program, Inc., a nonprofit human services organization. Key’s mission is to assist children and their families in developing life skills to have more productive lives. At Key, I was a Family Service Care Coordinator for the Family Care Community Partnership (FCCP). The FCCP serves families at risk for involvement with the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).
Working with the FCCP I provided direct services to families that were in the DCYF system in Rhode Island. The families I worked with were about a step away from having their children taken away from them, so, we did intensive team-based, collaborative wraparound services, focused on the needs of the whole family to help stabilize the family unit.”
Life changed when I found I was about to become a mom.
The global outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic during March 2020. Throughout my pregnancy, our lives were disrupted by lock-down, social distancing and mask wearing — and the worry about contracting and spreading the infection. It was a tough time for me.
I continued working until my son was born in January 2021, then decided to stay at home for a while to care for him. After my son’s birth, I became a single mom. Fortunately, I have a supportive family that helped me as I made the transition to raising my son on my own and returning to work.
Starting a new job with West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation I served as a family coach for the Dunamis Synergy program. In my role as a counselor, I assessed the needs of expectant and parenting teens and assisted them in overcoming barriers to achieve their post-secondary educational goals and to improve their economic outcomes.
I worked with families and advocated for policy changes in the State of Rhode Island, tackling policies related to childcare, including the CHA-RI Childcare Essential Act. CHA-RI provides funding for children with complex medical needs or long-term disabilities, who live at home so that family units remain intact. I was excited that I was able to testify at committees involved with legislating childcare policies.
As a single mom, I struggled with the same economic hardships as the families I was working hard to help.
Even now, I continue to be involved with the Right From The Start campaign, which is a legislative and budgetary campaign led by eight organizations, coordinated by Rhode Island KIDS COUNT to advance state policies for young children and their families living in the state. They work with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to advocate for raising the poverty line that determines when families pay for service and increasing families’ eligibility for services. The goal is to bridge the gap between lower income and middle-class families.
Return to JWU
Wanting to hone my leadership skills to advance in public service and driven to provide a good life for my son, I decided to go back to school.
I chose to enroll in JWU CPS’ Master of Public Administration program because of the great experience I had in JWU’s bachelor degree program, which I had completed on campus.
Coincidentally, Harry Ryan, Jr. was assigned as my academic advisor. Harry was one of my professors while I was an undergraduate student — he was a great professor. It felt like a sign that I was to go back to JWU again. It’s been really cool to have him and another former professor, Daniel Driscoll, again. Harry and my professors have all been so helpful throughout this process. I appreciate their help because it hasn’t been easy to take four classes each semester, while working and caring for my son.
One of the reasons that I attended school full-time while working was the need to meet the number of credits each semester to receive financial aid. Especially as a single mom, it was difficult for me to pay out-of-pocket for tuition. Rayanne Enos, who was my financial advisor during the entire time I was enrolled in the program, helped me complete the FAFSA and apply for financial aid. Her assistance helped me receive the aid I qualified for and was essential to my ability to complete the program and earn my degree.
Advancing In My Career.
In the Master of Public Administration program, I’ve learned so much that will help me get more in depth with nonprofit management and with making legislative policies. I’ve been able to conduct evaluations for the programs I’ve worked with. And all the knowledge and skills I’ve gained have helped build my resume. Earning the Master of Public Administration degree from JWU CPS has pushed my career forward toward my goal of advancing into leadership positions.
Right now, I’m applying what I learned about fundraising and nonprofit management to my current job at the Providence Housing Authority (PHA). In my role as the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Community Safety Coordinator, I’ve been able to learn a lot about housing and the housing crisis.
A lot of my caseload is domestic violence; I help families that have been victims of crime with Section 8 to relocate them to safety. I have been able to develop this program by working with the Director of Resident Services and establishing partnerships with agencies in the State of Rhode Island and with shelters. It is a first for the section 8 department of the PHA. So, it has been really awesome to be part of that — to help get if off the ground. We’ve been able to serve about 115 families to-date during 2023 and are getting new referrals every day.
Learning Online Compared With In The Classroom.
Both my undergraduate studies and my online graduate studies have been a good journey.
I personally like learning in person in the classroom, but for where I am right now in my life, it was so helpful to have been able to take the program online. I was able to study at my own pace, while working at a full-time job and taking care of my son. And I could interact with other students and instructors, for example, when we posted our assignments to discussion boards.
When I was an undergraduate on ground, I took advantage of being able to access my professors and advisors in person — they were always there to help. Earning my master’s degree online, the same is true; everyone has been very responsive and willing help.
The online program is different in that you do not meet with teachers and advisors in person, but the same in the sense that, at JWU CPS, you still get the same amount of help.
Balancing work, school and family life has been important to me.
Personally, it’s been hard for me to go to school, hold two jobs and also parent my son. But my son inspired me to go back to school and fueled my drive to keep going to earn the master’s degree. At the same time, as a parent I didn’t want to take time away from him. The online master’s program was flexible enough for me to be able to give my son the time that he needed, even while working and going to school.
I would do my homework after putting my son to bed. And I would study every free moment — on my break or while I was at my second job — so that studying didn’t take time away from him. Although challenging to meet all demands, I got into a rhythm and was able to juggle everything. I’m thankful that I had the support of my family and friends. Everyone helped care for my son throughout the whole journey.
Advice For Students
I wish that during my undergraduate years at JWU, I had made use of all the resources available to students.
There are so many resources on Blackboard that can be accessed. For example, I could go onto Blackboard and email my professors when I needed their help.
The online library is also accessible through Blackboard. The writing center has support specialists who help students write papers. All of these and more resources are free for students. Blackboard offers so many resources that have enabled me to go more in depth about the subjects I am learning. Having access to all of the support made learning at JWU CPS even more enjoyable.
If you’re a student, make sure that you have, or take time to develop, time management skills.
The Master of Public Administration program takes work and required a lot of reading. Carving out the correct time for studying is important, so that you don’t find that you have to drop in the first weeks of the program. Especially in the master’s program, it’s important to plan for the amount of work so that you can be sure to have balance in your life. Follow the plan you make and make sure you don’
Fortunately, the online programs are so well organized that you are able to see what classes you’re taking and what you need to take. That’s different compared with my first time around, when I was an undergraduate student. I remember having to go into the planning system to schedule everything myself. During my graduate studies, my advisor, Harry, had my plan and registered me for the courses. It was really helpful to not have to do that myself. Your advisor will be a great guide to which courses to take when, so that your plan, together with your time management skills, will help you have a good work-life balance while in school.
The JWU Community
As an alumna, I always have wonderful things to say about the university and the College of Professional Studies.
JWU has a diverse community of students on campus and online. When I was on campus as an undergraduate, I built great relationships with people, many with whom I am still friends, even 10 years later. As an online student, I have been able to connect virtually and make friends with students in my classes. I was excited to meet some of those friends in person on graduation day.
JWU does a great job at keeping the community together. After completing my undergraduate degree program, I continued to receive emails about alumni events. As a graduate student, I received information about the clubs and various community activities. All of that information is available to students in one place – on jwuLink.
Advancing My Leadership Goals
I highly recommend the Master of Public Administration degree program for anyone who aspires to become a leader in nonprofit and mission-focused organizations.
The online master’s program was flexible enough for me to give my son the time that he needed, while working and going to school. I believe the leadership skills that I have learned in the program are helping me move forward into management roles.
My biggest takeaway from the program has been the focus on developing service leadership — serving your community first, and if you have people working under you, building the organization by first strengthening the people under you. That’s what makes a really good leader — leading by example and making sure to set that example and be there to help those people grow and reach their goals.
If you had met me a year-and-a-half ago, I wasn’t as outgoing or comfortable with public speaking as I am now.
Practicing this skill during the program has made me better able to put myself out there. Long-term, my goal is to run for local office in my district. Earning the master’s degree and developing public speaking skills really have equipped me fora leadership role and to excel in my career.
The commencement ceremony this past May was a defining moment for me; a culmination of years of hard work, sacrifice, and unwavering determination.
Walking across the stage was an empowering moment, especially to have my son watching me. Although he is too young to understand, it will impact his future and pave the way for him to have an example of academic success. It was a testament to my resilience and a reminder that with dedication and perseverance, any dream is attainable. I am forever grateful to all my professors, faculty, and staff at JWU who supported me and encouraged me throughout this journey.