{"id":1397,"date":"2025-12-02T16:23:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T16:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2025-12-02T16:32:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T16:32:32","slug":"double-debt-free-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2025\/12\/02\/double-debt-free-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Debt-Free Degrees"},"content":{"rendered":"
When sisters Sarah and Jackie Wazelle each received unexpected news from Marshall University\u2019s financial aid office, they could hardly believe it. They had both been selected for the Marshall For All<\/a> program. What began as a moment of confusion over a missing $2,000 turned into relief and celebration: both would be able to attend Marshall debt-free.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was checking my financial aid and noticed $2,000 was missing. I didn\u2019t have $2,000 to pay for college,\u201d Sarah said.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah
Sarah Wazelle in Drinko Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sarah called her financial aid advisor who informed her she had been accepted to the Marshall For All <\/em>program\u2014and she\u2019d get to go to school debt-free.<\/p>\n

Her sister, Jackie, was in the middle of a shift at Lowe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Marshall For All<\/em> is saving the sisters each at least $2,000 per semester\u2014$16,000 each over the course of their college careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had to pay for school, I\u2019d 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,\u201d Sarah said.<\/p>\n

The sisters, from Charleston, West Virginia, have taken drastically different paths to Marshall.<\/p>\n

Jackie graduated high school in 2020, in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn\u2019t want to attend college online and chose to enter the workforce and stay home to help care for their then-newborn baby sister, Josie.<\/p>\n

\"Jackie
Jackie on a hike with her natural resources and recreation management class<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now Jackie\u2019s a thriving natural resources and recreation management major.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t found the major that I did, I would be struggling much more,\u201d Jackie said. \u201cThe way they teach my major is very geared towards people with ADHD or just learn better hands-on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both sisters hope to be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year institution.<\/p>\n

Their dad, Harry, went to Marshall but didn\u2019t earn his degree because he ran out of financial aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get to finish college debt-free, and our dad is really happy for us,\u201d Sarah said.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah
Sarah & Jackie with their mom, Nichole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their mom, Nichole started school but didn\u2019t 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\u2014billing 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s that person that supports you to want to lift you higher, but she’s also doing like everything behind the scenes,\u201d Sarah said.<\/p>\n

Following her mom\u2019s advice, Sarah came into Marshall with a year of college credits, after taking 11 college classes during her last two years of high school.<\/p>\n

When Sarah came to Marshall for a Green and White Day, she convinced her sister, Jackie to tag along and to apply for admission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got in and was like, \u2018I guess I\u2019m going to college,\u2019\u201d Jackie said.<\/p>\n

Now, Sarah\u2019s a double major in health sciences and general business, with hopes to work in medical device sales after graduation.<\/p>\n

\"BOLD
Marshall BOLD Scholars at their retreat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sarah and Jackie are both involved in Campus Activities Board (CAB) and are in the inaugural Marshall BOLD Scholars cohort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we have not taken this for granted,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cWe do so much on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"group
The CAB Homecoming float for 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now for Parent and Family Weekend, the Wazelle girls bring 18 family members to campus.<\/p>\n

And although she\u2019s only in kindergarten now, their little sister Josie plans to attend Marshall and graduate in the class of 2042.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the two oldest of six kids, we have started a legacy,\u201d Jackie said.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When sisters Sarah and Jackie Wazelle each received unexpected news from Marshall University\u2019s financial aid office, they could hardly believe it. They had both been selected for the Marshall For All program. What began as a moment of confusion over a missing $2,000 turned into relief and celebration: both would be able to attend Marshall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":945,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1397"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1491,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions\/1491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}