{"id":1177,"date":"2019-11-20T15:11:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T15:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2025-02-07T11:00:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T16:00:36","slug":"picture-this-a-new-graduates-visual-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2019\/11\/20\/picture-this-a-new-graduates-visual-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Picture This: A new graduate\u2019s visual journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1177_6c39f1-e9 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1177_c82dec-cd\">Nadia Gross earned her Bachelor of Science in Media Design with a concentration in Photography, so she understands the power of a photo to capture a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/03\/Gross_Nadia-Working-in-Studio59-700x489.jpg\" alt=\"Nadia photographs products\" class=\"wp-image-1180\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the one taken as she crossed the stage at WilmU\u2019s May 2019 commencement ceremonies, \u201cmy jaw was dropped. I had this gasp, this look of shock, in all the excitement,\u201d says Gross, of New Castle. \u201cThat was such a great moment. I\u2019m at a loss for words, even still.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The emotional response was warranted. It took Gross five years of part-time schooling, balanced between part-time work and full-time parenting, to complete her degree \u2014 and also to become the first college graduate in the history of her family.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1177_976895-62 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1177_976895-62\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/03\/Gross_Nadia-2-640x427-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img\"\/><figcaption><em><em>Photo: James Avestruz \/ JMAimages.com<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Higher education wasn\u2019t always in the picture for Gross. The necessity of working for a living put college out of reach for her parents, and Gross herself dropped out of school in ninth grade for a \u201clife on hold,\u201d working unfulfilling jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe future was not looking too bright for me, and I had plenty of people telling me that,\u201d she recalls, \u201cbut there was no one to push me to better myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At age 17, Gross earned a GED through the Wilmington Job Corps. The organization offered financial assistance toward a college degree, but she\u2019d already convinced herself that she lacked the mettle to take on that challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI saw everyone around me, my age group, going to school, getting jobs, finding success,\u201d she says. \u201cI was always stuck believing that I couldn\u2019t, because that\u2019s all I\u2019d heard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A boyfriend who introduced her to his church and its congregation sparked a change. \u201cThere\u2019s a phrase they used, \u2018speaking life into a person,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI began to see what I could do, instead of what I couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1177_299593-5d.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image1177_299593-5d .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:350px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1177_299593-5d.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image1177_299593-5d .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image1177_299593-5d figure{max-width:350px;}.kb-image1177_299593-5d .image-is-svg, .kb-image1177_299593-5d .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image1177_299593-5d .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1177_299593-5d\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2020\/03\/Gross-family-78-640x499-300x234.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img\"\/><figcaption><em><em>Gross\u2019s supportive family includes her husband, Eric, and children Sophina, Levi and Aidan.<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Gross enrolled in Wilmington University\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilmu.edu\/technology\/indext.aspx\">College of Technology<\/a> at age 24, by which time she\u2019d married the boyfriend and was raising three children. WilmU\u2019s flexible course scheduling and online learning formats and her supportive audience at home were essential to her success, Gross says. \u201cThey\u2019ve always been cheering me on,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She also credits photography instructors Bradley Bower and Tim Shaffer with encouraging her confidence in herself and her abilities when working with others. \u201cThat\u2019s important out in the field,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were seeing skills in me that I didn\u2019t even know were there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since her Kodak moment at May\u2019s commencement, Gross has been enjoying the new experience of career opportunity. A WilmU-coordinated internship at the Wilmington Public Library on Rodney Square led to the offer of a marketing assistant position. \u201cI had a job before I even crossed the stage,\u201d she says, and she\u2019s considering other options as well. \u201cI have a really good feeling about this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nadia Gross earned her Bachelor of Science in Media Design with a concentration in Photography, so she understands the power of a photo to capture&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[647],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-fall-2019"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":647,"label":"Magazine Fall 2019"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Rebecca Slinger","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/rebecca\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":647,"name":"Magazine Fall 2019","slug":"magazine-fall-2019","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1204,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15007,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/15007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}