![\"\"](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2019\/05\/Hayes-Birchler-1-250x300-250x300.jpg\")
Five years ago, she had a wild idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I was staying at the shelter, I started thinking about going back to school,\u201d Hayes-Birchler said. \u201cIt was crazy. That shouldn\u2019t have been my No. 1 focus \u2013 but I was thinking about going to school. So I applied to 51ÁÔÆæ.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a newly single mother with little income, Hayes-Birchler saw education as the way out of poverty for her and her son. She talked with College of Letters & Science student advisor Jennifer Hack, who helped her apply to the university and chart out her classes on the pre-dental track with a cell and molecular biology major.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the day I moved, I got all of the stuff off of the truck. My son was napping. Nothing was unpacked. I sat in the middle of the room and I broke down and cried,\u201d Hayes-Birchler recalled. \u201cI was like, this is crazy. I didn\u2019t have a job in Milwaukee. I didn\u2019t have child support from my ex-husband. I didn\u2019t have help with babysitting. I didn\u2019t have anything; I didn\u2019t know anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she did have motivation. Hayes-Birchler smiles each time she talks about her son, whom she says is her greatest accomplishment in life. Preston is 6 years old now, and will start first grade in September. He\u2019s a curious boy who loves to explore, go to the park and ride his bike. But back then, Preston was her reason for getting out of bed each morning to go to class.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are times when I feel like giving up or I feel so overwhelmed,\u201d Hayes-Birchler said. \u201cThere are times I don\u2019t feel like studying, but I say no, I need to do this. I want him to have a good life \u2013 not just a good life, but a life where we don\u2019t have to struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n
To put herself through school, she worked at a nursing home and later with an in-home care agency. Each semester, she took a full load of classes so that she would be able to graduate in four years. Along the way, she forged a support system: Her dear friends from Madison, Jim and Edith Davison; her advisor, Jennifer Hack; her professors, who were understanding when she sometimes had to bring Preston to class with her; the crew at 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Life Impact program, which assists disadvantaged parents in attaining an education; and her friends in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
Her four years of college were full of early mornings, long hours at her job, school and studying. But when she got the phone call telling her that she had been accepted to Marquette University\u2019s School of Dentistry, it made all of that work worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started crying like a little child. I was so excited! I could not believe it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
On top of it all, in April, Hayes-Birchler took her oath of citizenship to become a citizen of the United States. In the audience cheering her on were Hayes-Birchler\u2019s coaches from 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s Life Impact Program, friends from Madison, and her son.<\/p>\n
Though she is about to graduate, Hayes-Birchler still has a long road ahead. Dental school will be challenging, and she won\u2019t be able to work while she\u2019s in school. Without a job, she\u2019ll lose her state assistance for child care and will have to take out loans instead.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s familiar with struggling. It\u2019s shaped her future career goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like my own dental practice and I would like to work in low-income areas. I know what it feels like not to have insurance. I know what it feels like to struggle,\u201d she said. \u201cI would like to be able to give back to help people who were in my situation. I would like to be able to offer dental services for free or for a reduced price, even if it means paying out of my own pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she walks across the stage in May, she\u2019ll be taking one step closer to that dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just a couple years ago, Josephine Hayes-Birchler was homeless and looking to rebuild her shattered life. Now, she’s graduating from 51ÁÔÆæ and heading to dental school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":785,"featured_media":71486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[250],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[167,158],"class_list":["post-71474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-student-success","section-campus-community","section-students","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association","uwmnews-feed-letters-science"],"yoast_head":"\n