Nichole entered college unsure of what she wanted to be when she grew up (and, for the most part, she still is). Despite being a “traditional” 18-year-old student right out of high school, she was also biracial, parenting, and counting on Pell to cover tuition. She attended mostly night classes, took no more than 12 credits at a time, joined zero clubs, and took six years to complete…but she did complete. By the time she finished, Nichole had a BS in Behavioral Sciences with a Sociology concentration, a minor in Political Science, a husband/#1 superfan, two great kids, and still no idea what to do with a sociology degree.

After exploring a few different career paths, Nichole began to understand that her passion was in support and advocacy, and higher education was the space for her to do it. She has been able to see firsthand how equity-centered student success work can positively impact a community and is driven to spread those impacts. Since figuring out what to do with that sociology degree, she has achieved her dream of being published in a scholarly journal (twice!), and she has previously been selected for the Military Mentors eMMissary leadership program, developed a holistic admissions and support structure for the Indiana University East School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and served for five years as president of the Indiana Academic Advising Network (two elected terms and a “COVID term”). She completed her MA in Career and Technical Education at Ball State University and is now a proud Ball State parent.

Nichole lives in a small town in Indiana with one stoplight and a pretty good high school football team, where she enjoys time with family, weekend warrior trips around the Midwest, doing introvert stuff, and watching scary movies.