Born and raised in Philadelphia, life started rough for Shawniece. She dropped out of school and said she didn’t think education was for someone like her. She got married and had kids young, but instead of being overwhelmed, she committed to being a role model for her kids and the type of women she could be proud of.

Her husband has family in Wisconsin, so together, they decided to leave everything behind and start fresh in a new place. She started with GED classes at CVTC and admitted that there were many sleepless nights where she wanted to give up.

But, because she believed in herself and with help from the faculty, she became more confident and earned her GED. She immediately started in the CVTC Human Resources program and loved being involved in the College community, hosting the Culture Fair, working in Diversity Resources, and being the Student Speaker at her graduation ceremony. When she received her degree, she burst into tears, knowing she was the first person in her family to graduate college.

After graduation, she and her husband moved back to Pennsylvania and founded Scoop’s commercial cleaning company. Their business has become extremely successful and is the only minority-owned cleaning company in the area.

Her advice is never to stop believing in yourself and to follow the passion within you. She says CVTC is a part of her forever and considers the College her sorority and her sisterhood.