MyUMUC Graduates

Paulette Fowlkes Honors Her Mother with Degree and National Anthem Performance

By: Alice Manning

On May 16, 2009, Paulette Fowlkes took the Commencement stage not just to receive her Bachelor of Science in Accounting, but also to perform the National Anthem for the ceremony.

Being in front of a crowd didn’t always come naturally to Fowlkes. She began singing at the age four and says, “Although I was shy when it came to being on stage, my mother knew I had a good ‘listening ear’ for music.” Fowlkes’s mother, Veronica Shields, encouraged her to become a member of the children’s choir at her church, where Fowlkes continues to sing today. Shields didn’t just push her daughter to sing, but also to accomplish her highest academic goals.

“My parents always told me that one of their wishes was to see all of their eight children graduate from college,” Fowlkes says. When Shields was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, Fowlkes considered taking a break from school. She and her husband visited her mother often to keep her spirits up; during these visits, her mother constantly encouraged her to finish school. “When I knew my mother had hit a low point, I felt an urgency to finish school," Fowlkes says. "I wanted her to see me graduate. Sadly, she passed in May 2008, and was unable to share this moment with me.”

Even after this heartbreaking loss, Fowlkes’s boss, father and husband all continued to encourage her to finish her courses. Her husband worked tirelessly with their three children so Fowlkes could juggle the strains of her job and course work. Though sometimes she would work into the early morning hours, she recalls, “One evening, I reached way down into my heart and began to understand my purpose for completing school," she says. "I realized in every dream there are obstacles and trials that we have to learn how to overcome.”

She took a combination of online and on-site courses, and says the experience with her professors kept her disciplined and motivated. Her accounting classes were challenging and directly applicable to her position as an executive assistant to the chairman, president and CEO of a banking institution. She says her UMUC education “helped advance [her] knowledge of financial statements, compliance, risks, balance sheets and human resources” and assisted several departments in creating “spreadsheets, software programs and development in administrative areas.”

In the future, Fowlkes plans to pursue her master's degree and CPA license. She is also dedicated to her work with children and hopes to open up a recreation center in her community to provide them with tutorial services, arts and crafts, counseling, spiritual awareness and games.

For now, she's enjoying her post-National Anthem glow after singing at 2009 Commencement and accepting her degree.

“When I received the announcement that I was graduating," says Fowlkes, "I met my children (who are straight “A” students) at the top of the steps and screamed, ‘I’m graduating, I’m graduating, I’m graduating!’ I really had a Rocky Balboa experience. I am so proud this day has finally come!”