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May 12, 2026

Every commencement season, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­'s ceremonies are flush with graduates from every background and circumstance who just don't sit well with the concept of 'quit.' Two of those who embody that spirit sitting in the throngs of Summer/Spring 2026 graduates in May were Chronda Nicholas and Rachael Ryan.

Chronda Nicholas' long academic journey is a lesson in persistence that weathered personal sacrifice and a 10-year confrontation with her own mortality.

Both Nicholas' dedication to learning and her commitment to family was forged early by her parents. Her mother, Mildred Wade Wilson, graduated valedictorian from Ashford Colored High School in Ashford, Alabama, in 1954. Chronda's father, Freddie Lee Wilson, completed the 11th grade, then opted to skip his senior year to go into the Army, which made it possible for him to support his mother, his four siblings, and his wife.  

"My parents also took care of my terminally ill great-grandmother until her passing," Nicholas said.  "They took care of six boys and three girls. To-date (no longer the case as of May), my youngest sister is the only member of my family who has completed college."

That sister, Cassandra Wilson-Temple, attended Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ from 1984 to 1987, went on to earn bachelor's degrees in psychology and English at University of Central Florida in 2006, and she now teaches 10th grade history and 11th grade English. 

A military vet like her father, Chronda served in the U.S. Air Force, and walked in cap and gown on May 1 with the telltale red/white/blue cord signifying her distinction. Now 67, she actually started as a Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ student in Spring 1984, going off and on. "At times I had to forego taking classes because I was a single parent of three children," Nicholas said. "I worked two jobs and was very active in our church." 

Nicholas was a 54-year-old program assistant with the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville when she reluctantly got checked for breast cancer at the behest of a friend. The diagnosis of Stage 2 triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma — breast cancer — was a double-whammy coming off a lupus diagnosis just two months prior. 

The lupus made treating the cancer more difficult, but Nicholas clung to sage advice from family — her Uncle James, also fighting cancer, encouraged her to "remove yourself from stressful situations and avoid negative people" — and doubled down on prayer, leaning on her children, friends and church.

"I said, 'I've got to activate my faith and do what I need to do in order to be healed," Nicholas said. "I prayed a lot!" 

More than a decade later, her oncologist told Nicholas he'd 'bet his own garage her cancer wouldn't ever resurface.' She now shares her message of hope to others fighting their own battle with the disease. 

And she delivered on promises to keep pursuing her academic ambitions, namely, those made to close friend and mentor Dr. Karen Cole-Smith, former executive director of community outreach at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­, whom she credits as one of Nicholas' foremost allies in the fire. 

Friday, May 1, 2026, Nicholas walked through Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ gymnasium with a crisp associate's degree in art studio/graphic design that was 42 years in the making.

"This degree will pave the path to establishing a graphic design business," she said. "I hope to utilize my skills by helping others communicate using graphic designs. I also would like to utilize art in hospitals to help patients."

The family now claims several Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ alumni, including Chronda's youngest son, Paul Thompson Jr. ("PJ"), a 2016 associate's degree graduate who later earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, and his wife, Meriza, who inspired him to make sure they finished Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ and UF together.  

More about Nicholas' survivor story of faith and hope in the face of breast cancer may be found .

Rachael Ryan is a newly minted bachelor's graduate with a degree in organizational management. Presently serving as the interim executive director at Family Promise of Gainesville, a community-based collaboration of civic and religious groups that provide resources for the area's homeless, she was looking to upskill in a way that would significantly undergird the work she has been doing long before her current role — a type of work with which she is personally familiar. 

Ryan was a justice-impacted individual who moved to Gainesville with her family, then fought to navigate her way through the limited resources available for support — many of which came with additional barriers, due to her past. 

Undeterred, she made her way Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ in Spring 2021 and completed her associate degree in social work. Ryan set her sights on her next educational objective, a bachelor's degree with scholarship assistance through Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­'s Freedom to Learn program, created in 2023 to create access and educational opportunity for those with unique needs as a result of incarceration. 

Not content to be just a recipient of the Freedom to Learn scholarship, Ryan was an ambassador for others in the program who have walked a similar path, offering her unique perspective, helping them feel seen, and modelling the perseverance that has inspired current and prospective Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ students.