UALR Social Work Pupil Named ASPSF September Pupil of the Month

Arkansas Single Guardian Scholarship Fund’s Pupil of the Month for September 2024 is Holly Irons, a single mother from Garland County.

Holly first tried faculty in 2015 whereas recovering from substance abuse. She visited an grownup training heart and took a job aptitude check. The 2 highest scores she obtained had been for an actress and a social employee. However after taking that check, she grew to become stressed and scared. She relapsed and stopped going to lessons.

This cycle repeated itself — get clear, return to highschool, relapse — for years till Holly “decided to take a chance and do something different,” she mentioned. “The last and final time I used a substance was in August 2020.” Holly credit her Christian religion as the inspiration of her sobriety journey.

As soon as sober, Holly began working at Lake Hamilton Well being and Rehab as a laundry attendant. Supporting Holly’s dream to return to highschool, the nursing residence sponsored her to check at Arkansas Profession Coaching of the Ozarks to change into an authorized nursing assistant (CNA).

Holly attended Nationwide Park School from 2021-23, the place she earned her affiliate diploma. In 2023, Holly began her bachelor’s diploma in social work on the College of Arkansas at Little Rock. Holly has been an ASPSF scholarship recipient since Fall 2023.

Holly Irons graduated along with her affiliate diploma from Nationwide Park School in 2023. 

“I knew I wanted to give back to the community and inspire my children,” she mentioned. “If someone like me could go to school and do the things, they could, too.”

Holly has seen her life rework via her laborious work. She earned her affiliate diploma and instantly started engaged on her bachelor’s. She made the Chancellor’s Checklist in Fall 2023 and the Dean’s Checklist in Spring 2024. She even earned a promotion at work by turning into the social director for the nursing residence.

However most significantly, Holly has seen her relationships along with her youngsters heal. Holly has a 14-year-old daughter and an grownup son. Since going again to highschool, Holly has seen her daughter making use of herself extra to schoolwork and exhibiting higher habits total. Holly makes use of her versatile scholarship from ASPSF to pay her hire and spend extra time along with her daughter.

“Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund has helped me to see that there are people in our community who want to see others succeed and are willing to help,” she mentioned. “The donors of this fund help break generational curses and create a different reality for not only the parents but the children.”

Holly Irons (third row, third from proper) receives her Fall 2023 scholarship from Arkansas Single Guardian Scholarship Fund. 

Holly expects to graduate with a bachelor’s subsequent fall and hopes to enroll in a grasp’s program after commencement and change into a licensed social employee. Her long-term purpose is to open a nonprofit in Scorching Springs to assist youngsters whose mother and father are in a facility, jail, or jail. She is decided to make use of her expertise with habit for the nice of her neighborhood with these levels.

Congratulations, Holly, for being ASPSF’s September Pupil of the Month! ASPSF acknowledges your laborious work and admires your educational and restoration journey.