Reinventing Herself

Thirty years after graduating from high school, Licia Summerhill reached her academic goal and graduated from CSUDH this spring. 

In 1996, Licia Summerhill graduated from high school and enrolled at California State University, Long Beach. She was studying to become a teacher, just like her mother.

Three years later she got a full-time job with the Department of Water and Power for the city of Los Angeles and dropped out of college.

Summerhill always wondered if she made the right decision leaving school. She often thought about going back to finish her degree. But she had kids to feed and at her new job she was earning the same salary as her mom.

A couple of years after Summerhill started working for the county, she became close with a co-worker who was in charge of the office. Rene Anderson was a California State University, Dominguez Hills alumna who graduated in 2003 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Anderson was also a mother of four children who earned her degree while working full time.

"She was part of the inspiration for me to know that I can go back, even with my load as a parent," Summerhill said.

Three years ago Summerhill did just that and enrolled at CSUDH to study journalism.

This spring she joined that long list of college graduates in her family after earning a bachelor's degree in communications.

Summerhill is one of dozens of students each semester who are redefining their path and returning to school.

Growing up in Carson, Summerhill lived close to Dominguez Hills but she was unaware of the impact the school would have on her life.

"I thought about [CSUDH] negatively, because who wants to be that close to their college?" Summerhill asked. "But looking back, that was just an immature thought process because it [CSUDH] had everything I needed, I just didn't realize what I needed."

Summerhill, now 46, at first was hesitant to return to school because she couldn't find classes that worked with her schedule. That changed when she met Penny White, Communications Department advisor, who said her goal is to help all students prepare for graduation.

The number of re-entry students in CSUDH is like a seesaw, the numbers go up and down, but right now numbers are on the rise as students are starting to pick up from where they left off before the pandemic.

"Right now I'm seeing a trend for the people that fell out of continuous enrollment in fall of 2020 after COVID hit," White said. "We're seeing those people now return and finish up their degrees. That semester we had a lot of people who didn't complete."

This spring there were 121 returning students at the university this academic school year. Approximately, 24 of them are in at least one of the three majors in the Communications Department.

White helps returning students begin where they left off by reactivating their catalog rights and by helping them avoid the hassle of taking additional classes.

It wasn't easy to find the time to study, Summerhill said, but the school's ability to cater to all types of schedules has given her the opportunity to manage her time effectively and address her academic priorities.

Summerhill said she could not have done it without determination and the motivation and inspiration from the women around her.

Summerhill aims to use the writing and communications skills she gained at CSUDH to secure a management role at her current job.