Published on May 15, 2020
This is the fourth of five installments of our “CASE Scholar Senior Spotlight” featuring Ashana Starr:
She did it!
MU senior graduate Ashana Starr has overcome many obstacles. Her journey towards success is nowhere close to normal.
In 2015 Starr began college through CASE’s Summer Transition Program (STP), now known as Summer Bridge. At the time she was majoring in Animal Sciences and had a tough time keeping up with schoolwork. By the end of her Freshman year her GPA dropped and Starr was placed on academic probation. After the Fall 2016 semester she found herself getting kicked out of Mizzou.
“It was very depressing, I was like okay what are my next steps, what am I going to do? But I ended up going back to St. Louis, I took classes at Florissant Valley CC,” Starr said. “My mom wanted me to stay back home but I’m like no I gotta finish what I started.”
Starr decided to come back to Columbia and attend Moberly Area Community College (MACC). In 2018 she graduated with an associate’s degree in General Studies. She was now one step closer to her goal, getting back to Mizzou.
“So I’m applying back to Mizzou, I was still unsure what I wanted to do. I’m trying to think what other space I can see myself finishing school in and I’m like well the only other thing that I like is psychology,” Starr explained. “I like the thought of helping people and how the brain works and I like the whole counseling concept so I’m like okay I think I can finish school in this, so I applied to that, got accepted, greatest moment ever.”
Now, Starr is graduating from Mizzou with a degree in Psychology. She currently works as a Mental Health Technician at CenterPointe Hospital, a psychiatric/behavioral health hospital in Columbia. She’s currently applying to graduate school at MU, but in the meantime will work full-time at CenterPointe.
Starr’s journey to getting her degree at MU wasn’t easy. But with hard work and encouragement from the CASE office, she never gave up.
“CASE has been a huge support system for me. They’re the first people I knew coming in from STP, so they kind of set that college experience for me. I’ve kept in contact with Justin and Ms. Brock from then up until now. They’re always there for support, I don’t feel like I can only reach out to them for school stuff,” Starr explained. “I always say Ms. Brock is like my mom away from home, so It’s great to have that here without being able to go home as often. Then with the whole getting kicked out of Mizzou situation that was very tough, but they were there with me, shed some tears with me, helped me get through it and when I came back, they were even more of a bigger support system, they were on my tail to make sure I stayed here and graduate.”
The CASE Office is beyond proud to witness Ashana Starr overcome adversity and achieve her goals.
Congrats graduate! We will always be your home away from home.