When Joi Foster enrolled in Goodwin’s Medical Billing & Coding program, she never dreamed that her first day of classes would lead to her becoming a local celebrity. As the 52-year-old “new student” entered the academic building, she paused to snap a selfie, which she posted on Eyewitness News “First Day on 3.” The folks at Channel 3 were intrigued by Joi’s decision to return to college after 30 years and visited Goodwin to catch up with her.
“Oh, it’s great — it’s wonderful. I was a little nervous that maybe I was possibly the older person in class and I wasn’t,” she said during her interview in the Goodwin library.
With more than three decades of experience in the workforce, Joi is a wonderful example of Goodwin’s “non-traditional” students, who make the commitment to pursue a certificate or degree later in life so that they can advance their careers. A wide range of support services is in place to help student move closer to their goals.
In a follow-up interview on Channel 3, Dean of Students Tamara O’Day-Stevens commented that non-traditional students are “clearly going back to school because they want a change in their life and they want something to be different and we want to give them that difference that makes them happy.”
Welcome to Goodwin, Joi! Thanks for showing that success has no age limits!
Click here to watch the full Channel 3 interview.
Goodwin University is a nonprofit institution of higher education and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), formerly known as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Goodwin University was founded in 1999, with the goal of serving a diverse student population with career-focused degree programs that lead to strong employment outcomes.