The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

KATRINA Michelle Nixon exemplified the saying, delayed but not denied when she obtained her bachelor’s degree in primary education at 48 last week, calling her journey beautiful despite the hurdles.

Ms Nixon started her tertiary education journey at 41 in 2017, dropped out a few times and changed her major, but completed her education with a 3.72 GPA last week. 

“There were a lot of times that I wanted to give up,” she told The Tribune yesterday. 

“I actually did drop out. I dropped out of college in 2021. That was the year I started teaching, and I stayed out for about a year. 

“I changed my major and I went back, but then I changed my major back to education because I love teaching, and I realized that I was shortchanging my kids in the classroom by not going all the way with my education.”

Ms Nixon said her university journey faced many challenges and she was usually the oldest in her classes. She said she felt out of place “99.999 per cent of the time”. 

“I didn’t feel like I belonged there,” she added.

“I honestly never felt it, even right up to this minute of earning that degree. I never felt like I really belonged or fit in there or anything like that. 

Ms Nixon said she is grateful to have accomplished this goal despite it taking her 30 years to get here. She has her eyes set on homeownership and pursuing a master’s degree in education leadership. 

“We have two choices,” she said. “You can sit back and cry and wish you did it or you can go ahead and actually do it. Being an older person does not take away from the enthusiasm you’re going to feel when you change your life. 

“Going into a new career at 48, this is still beautiful. I still absolutely love it. I can’t believe I’m a teacher. I’m in people’s classrooms. This is still exciting. Age doesn’t change that.” 

In a Facebook post that got over 1.3k shares yesterday, Ms Nixon said her graduation photos “represent battle wounds that will never heal, painful memories that will forever surface every time this photo comes into view, and maybe that’s all the more reason to post it.” 

“I’ve been all over this country, just about on the majority of the islands of this country, working various positions, but they were just jobs,” she said yesterday.

“It’s a difference when you pick a career, see, because I can tell you now that I’m a teacher. If you asked me back then, I couldn’t tell you what I was doing. I’d say okay, I work this place, but I couldn’t define myself as a banker or a guest service agent or whatever, because I know it as just a job for me.” 

She encouraged others to take the leap of faith and take advantage of the free education opportunities available at the University of The Bahamas.