A warm smile stretches across Carolyn Carter’s face, causing her sparkling brown eyes to crinkle. The pink plastic barrettes that dangle from the ends of her braids brush against her forehead as she takes a seat in the worn armchair tucked in the corner of the women’s lounge. The lounge, located outside the women’s bathroom, is a product of the 1940s architecture of the Fine Arts Building. Flushing toilets are heard in the background as students rush in and out of the bathroom between classes. A small radio faintly plays ‘90s R&B music.
“Everybody can’t be up there. They do their job and me down here, I do mine. But mine is just as important as theirs.”
Carolyn Carter, a custodial staff member, has worked for the University of Georgia for 20 years. She began at the Terry College of Business and the Tate Student Center before settling in the Fine Arts Building on campus.
While Carter’s everyday routine includes cleaning the classrooms and bathrooms, she takes her role as a mentor and “mother” to the students just as seriously.
“When she greets me, it goes beyond a hello. It’s always a very genuine back and forth,” says Melanie Sheahan, a junior theatre major. “She knows how to make you smile.”
But behind the soft smile and warm hugs is a woman who has struggled.
Carter, who became pregnant with her son, Tracey, at age 14, is no stranger to adversity. “I was headed to the 8th grade and back then you couldn’t go to school pregnant. I didn’t tell nobody, so I got thrown out.” Forced to drop-out of school Carter worked small jobs here and there.
“It wasn’t time to be a child no more, I had to stand up and be a woman.”
Carter wanted to prove to her mother, who was also a single parent, that she would take responsibility for her actions. She got a job at a poultry plant, where she worked for 23 years. However, she wasn’t content.
“I knew I always wanted to work for the University,” says Carter, “but it seemed like it was so hard.” Her husband, Walter Carter, worked for the UGA Athletic Department as a ground crew member. Walter developed a close connection to Vince Dooley, the head football coach at the time, as well as Michael Adams, the UGA president emeritus.
“Michael Adams spoke with Vince Dooley and they got in touch with Susan Cade up there on North Campus at Brooks Hall and she called me. I went on vacation from the poultry plant for three weeks and [Susan] called me the first Friday I went out for vacation. They told me to come in on Monday… I only got three days of vacation but I didn’t care.”
Even after making it to UGA as a custodial staff member, Carter still wasn’t satisfied. “The most important thing to me when I was going to school was to graduate, to walk across that stage.”
And she got her chance 14 years later.
In a meeting, Carter and a group of custodial staff members were offered a chance to pursue a higher education. “A man asked, ‘Does anybody in this meeting not have their GED or didn’t finish high school?’ And I raised my hand. I didn’t have any shame.” This was exactly what Carter wanted, a chance to finish school.
Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for next couple of month, she was in class studying for the 5 parts of the General Education Diploma (GED) test. Carter bought a laptop to help with her studies and didn’t miss a single class. When it came time to take the test, Carter passed all parts of the test except for the math section.
She didn’t let that deter her. With the support of family and friends, Carter stubbornly kept studying.
“She was very excited about her grades,” says Clay Chastain, the administrative assistant in the Fine Arts Building. “She would run in and show us her scores. [Carter] began using us almost like an accountability to keep herself forward or to provide further motivation for herself.”
Chastain, who has known Carter since his days as a student at UGA and who Carter affectionately refers to as “her son”, helped her where he could. “She thinks I’m an IT guy. I know nothing about computers, but I helped her out.”
After studying more, Carter took the math portion of the GED test again.
She failed again.
One of the many people rooting for Carter, was her husband, Walter. “She got frustrated with it and said she was giving up. I told her, ‘don’t give up baby.’” Walter credits Carter’s teachers with convincing her to continue studying for the math section. “They were crazy about her.”
Carter took the test again.
She failed again…
And again…
And again.
“I was beating myself up over the math. On the fourth and fifth time, I said, ‘I’m just going to forget it!’” However, Carter’s teachers told her not to give up. They saw her determination and recognized her as a dedicated student.
After failing the math test for a sixth time, Carter had no motivation left. She was convinced that this was never meant to be.
“The seventh time I took the test I had made myself up that I wasn’t going to take this anymore. This was gonna be it.”
The morning of Carter’s final attempt at the math portion of the GED test, she was calm. She listened to her teachers’ advice and didn’t study the night before. No matter what happened during the test, this would be the last attempt. She was done.
Later that day after the test, Carter was driving home when she received a call from her teacher telling her to pull the car over.
She had passed. Finally.
“I went crazy. I had to throw my hands up. Everyone on the street was blowing at me, looking at me like I was crazy because I was shouting all over the place.”
Carter got her GED in 2013, fulfilling a dream she’s had since she was 14. This was just the start for her. Carter went on the get a degree in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) from Athens Technical in 2016. She applied for positions within UGA’s HVAC department and is currently waiting on an interview.
“It’s like what Maya Angelou said, ‘Still I rise.’ And I’m still rising.”