Tessa Cothran

Training Coordinator for the Business and Public Services Division and for the Business/IT/Logistics CCE Department

Bachelor of Arts in Human Services Behavioral Science, Anderson University, 2017

In 1995 Tessa Cothran graduated from McDuffie High School with 3.6 grade point average and a dream of a college degree and a better life.

With Pell grant assistance, she enrolled at TCTC full time (1997 – 1999) while maintaining a full-time job to support family.  “I needed a job because at age 18 our social services benefits ended. My mother didn’t finish high school and neither did my father who became disabled and was living in another state.” Cothran was the first in her family to graduate from high school and would be the first to enroll in college.

She was a year and a half into her university transfer classes at TCTC when she was offered a promotion as a department manager at her workplace. Unfortunately, the evening classes she needed to complete her degree weren’t offered so, at age 22, she dropped out to advance her career. “I needed the money, my mother was on disability and I was the breadwinner,” she said.

 Fourteen years later, at age 36, she reenrolled in online classes at Anderson University with all of her TCTC credits transferring.  She embarked on her dream of a college degree while still working as a retail department manager.

“Since the fourth grade, I dreamed of going to college, specifically Anderson University.  I wanted a different life,” she said. 

Education opened the door to that better life, when seven years ago the opportunity to work at TCTC presented itself.

“My dream was my mentor,” she said, “and I had to do my part to get my dream.  I knew there was another world for me.” 

When talking with Corporate and Community Education students at open house events, and they tell her they experiencing career burnout, as she did, she shares her personal story.  Cothran said they appreciate her candor.

“It is important to have a sounding board and a good support system,” said Cothran, who found both in friends at church and in the TCTC workplace.

This January she entered the master’s program in organizational leadership at Anderson University.  She plans to graduate in December 2025. “I’m finally living my dream with no self-doubt.  I’m proud of my accomplishments. Education is an investment in yourself,” she said.