Miceala Morano's Path to Senior Walk Was Paved With Pennies

“Around one in four students at the University of Arkansas are first-generation students,” says Miceala Morano, a senior from West Fork. “I'm proud to be a part of that one in four, especially since my path to Senior Walk began with literal pennies.

“When I was a child, my family went to the store and bought a large plastic water jug. For years, my grandparents, father and I used this jug as a bank that served as my college fund. For years of my life, I spent evenings and early mornings listening to the clink of coins, hoping it would be enough money to send me to college.”

She explains that her father worked blue collar jobs and almost always worked overtime so he could put part of his paycheck into a savings account for her college. “He had a dream of sending me off to college so I would never have to spend a day in the same factories that he frequented,” she explains. “He knew he wanted better for his only daughter.”

She says his example also taught her the value of hard work. “I began making the drive to Springdale, Arkansas, from West Fork to attend a rigorous college preparatory school,” she says. “I spent long nights studying for Advanced Placement exams to get college credits out of the way before I stepped on campus.” She took the ACT multiple times, tutoring herself so as to earn a high enough score to apply for the Honors program.

“Then I took a chance on myself by applying for the Honors College Fellowship,” Miceala says, calling the opportunity “life-changing.” She prepared for weeks for the interview.

“When I received the email that I was going to be an Honors College Fellow, I wept. Finally, after years of my family working hard to help me fund my dreams, I was able to turn to them and tell them that I would be the first in my family to graduate as a Razorback.”

And that’s just what she did when she walked across the stage this May to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism.

“The University of Arkansas has given me opportunities to give back to my community that I never would have received otherwise,” she says. “I've spent hundreds of hours volunteering in the community I love. I've been able to pursue journalism as a career and help inform people through my work. I've been able to mentor other students chasing the same dreams through the Lemke Journalism Project. I've traveled across the state to do research for the Pryor Center. I've written for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a full summer.”

Looking back on her path to Senior Walk, Miceala says, “I have hopefully been able to inspire others to follow their dreams, no matter how low the odds are.”