It was the fall semester of 2014, and first-year Joy Stokes '22 was struggling in her introductory computer course. She says the class was going too fast for her to keep up. She received a D, which prevented her from making the College’s dean’s list.
Looking back, says Joy, that D was one of the best things to ever happen to her at Guilford. “It didn’t break me,” she says. “It actually made me work a little harder.”
A lot harder. Joy graduated from Guilford in December as a Continuing Education student with a degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Human Resource Management, an exclamation point to 10 straight semesters of making the dean’s list.
Not bad for a kid who dropped out of high school after her junior year to have a baby and then, a year later, earned her GED. Joy wasn’t even aware of her current dean’s list streak. “Really? Ten in a row? That’s great,” says Joy, who is 54.
The secret to her success? Perseverance. “I’m kinda the person who doesn’t give up,” says Joy. “I don’t give up on me or anything I do so maybe that’s how I did it.”
That’s not to say it was easy. Joy works at IGT Tobacco (formerly Lorillard Tobacco Company) in marketing. Early in her college career she took a semester off. “I thought I’d taken on too much so I needed a break,” she says. “I wasn’t quitting, I just needed a break to re-energize myself.”
Joy’s streak of 10 straight dean’s lists is the longest current run at the College, but might be short-lived. Alina Santos '22, who graduated last May with a double major in Exercise and Sport Sciences and Health Sciences, has made the dean’s list nine consecutive semesters. She’s a Continuing Education student taking prerequisite courses for PA school.