By Cherie Suonvieri '15, content specialist
November 18, 2020 | 9 a.m.
Yolanda Y McIntosh AA’14, CAPS’16, GS’19
“Growing up, they said, I would never amount to nothing—and I believed them,” Yolanda Y McIntosh says. “But Bethel confirmed what God embedded in my spirit many years ago: I was chosen to lead.”
McIntosh remembers the exact day she decided to return to school. It was December 28, 2011—the same day she decided she would be getting a divorce and filing for bankruptcy. Furthering her education represented a new chapter for McIntosh and her three children. She started by pursuing an associate of arts degree at Bethel, but a leadership course during that program inspired her to push further. She went on to pursue two more degrees, first a bachelor’s in organizational leadership and then a master’s in strategic leadership at Bethel.
Looking back, McIntosh remembers how nervous she was for her first classes—so nervous that she drove over the curb entering the parking lot on three separate occasions in the first weeks. “That was a sight to see!” she says. “But that was then.”
McIntosh soon found a supportive community among Bethel faculty and classmates, as did her youngest daughter who accompanied her to class every week for the first three years. “It was along the tedious journey of studying, working, and raising my children as a single parent, that I realized I was not traveling alone,” McIntosh says, naming a number of faculty members who encouraged her to dig deeper and traveled with her throughout her studies.
McIntosh remembers picking up her cap and gown prior to the commencement ceremony for her associate’s degree in 2014. Her then-10-year-old daughter, who’d accompanied her to each class, fittingly accompanied her on this errand, too. When the two got home, McIntosh’s daughter asked her to try on the cap and gown. She did, and tears began to well in her daughter’s eyes. Alarmed, McIntosh asked, “What’s wrong? Is it too wrinkled? Is there a stain on it?”
“My baby’s growing up!” her daughter cried.
McIntosh laughs when she tells this story. “That associate’s degree and the bachelor’s degree—those were for her,” she explains. “I was on my own with the master’s.
“When I think of my Bethel experience, I think about the example I am now able to set for youth who are at risk, youth in foster care, youth who are homeless or living in an abusive home. Youth who are like I once was. What a difference I am now able to make in their lives, as they begin to see themselves and the limitless possibilities, through me.”
— Yolanda Y McIntoshBethel’s M.A. in Strategic Leadership program is preparing the kind of competent, compassionate leaders that employers are looking to hire and promote. With flexible programming, you’ll be able to earn your master’s from wherever you are.
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