“I was checking my financial aid and noticed $2,000 was missing. I didn’t have $2,000 to pay for college,” Sarah said.
Sarah called her financial aid advisor who informed her she had been accepted to the Marshall For All program—and she’d get to go to school debt-free.
Her sister, Jackie, was in the middle of a shift at Lowe’s in the garden center when Sarah called her. When Jackie checked her own financial aid account, she discovered that she, too, had been selected for the program.
Marshall For All is saving the sisters each at least $2,000 per semester—$16,000 each over the course of their college careers.
“If I had to pay for school, I’d have to take a job off campus, and that would take away from me being able to make connections with my peers that will help me in my career,” Sarah said.
The sisters, from Charleston, West Virginia, have taken drastically different paths to Marshall.
Jackie graduated high school in 2020, in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn’t want to attend college online and chose to enter the workforce and stay home to help care for their then-newborn baby sister, Josie.
Now Jackie’s a thriving natural resources and recreation management major.
“If I hadn’t found the major that I did, I would be struggling much more,” Jackie said. “The way they teach my major is very geared towards people with ADHD or just learn better hands-on.”
Both sisters hope to be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year institution.
Their dad, Harry, went to Marshall but didn’t earn his degree because he ran out of financial aid.
“We get to finish college debt-free, and our dad is really happy for us,” Sarah said.
Their mom, Nichole started school but didn’t graduate and is currently enrolled in classes to finish a social work degree at West Virginia State University. Over the years, Nichole worked a variety of jobs—billing specialist, phlebotomist, marketing, and more, all to provide for her daughters. Today, she works for West Virginia Sober Living in their Police and Peers Program as a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. Nichole is three and a half years into her recovery journey and continues to show her daughters what resilience looks like.
“She’s that person that supports you to want to lift you higher, but she’s also doing like everything behind the scenes,” Sarah said.
Following her mom’s advice, Sarah came into Marshall with a year of college credits, after taking 11 college classes during her last two years of high school.
When Sarah came to Marshall for a Green and White Day, she convinced her sister, Jackie to tag along and to apply for admission.
“I got in and was like, ‘I guess I’m going to college,’” Jackie said.
Now, Sarah’s a double major in health sciences and general business, with hopes to work in medical device sales after graduation.
Sarah and Jackie are both involved in Campus Activities Board (CAB) and are in the inaugural Marshall BOLD Scholars cohort.
“I feel like we have not taken this for granted,” Sarah said. “We do so much on campus.”
Now for Parent and Family Weekend, the Wazelle girls bring 18 family members to campus.
And although she’s only in kindergarten now, their little sister Josie plans to attend Marshall and graduate in the class of 2042.
“As the two oldest of six kids, we have started a legacy,” Jackie said.
