Erica McGuire is succeeding in the classroom and on the home front. As a full-time, single mom to 8-year-old Keaton Rae, she admits it can be tough focusing on both studying and parenting. When the pandemic shut down her daughter’s school last year, she found it especially challenging.

“Homeschooling her and going full time online myself was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done,” the criminal justice student recalled. “We just took it day by day — and, yes, there were tears.”

Pre-pandemic, McGuire, an Honors College student, took most of her classes on Perimeter’s Dunwoody Campus and says she is grateful all of her courses shifted online due to early COVID-19 restrictions. She finished the fall semester with a 4.0 grade point average. She stays motivated by her goal, which is to work in criminal justice in areas involving accountability courts and treatment programs.

Her Path: Prior to enrolling at Perimeter two years ago, McGuire spent eight years managing a tanning salon where she made “good money.” But the work hours were long and took too much time away from her daughter.

“It just was no longer a life that I wanted,” she said. “I wanted to make a bigger impact on people and have more time with my daughter. I missed a lot of ‘firsts,’ and I didn’t want to miss any more,” she said.

McGuire’s interest in criminal justice grew from a desire to positively impact people’s lives. She says working through accountability programs offered by the correctional system will satisfy that desire. On campus at Perimeter, Erica enjoyed service-learning projects such as one that took her to a nearby retirement home where she assisted elderly residents with crafting jewelry. “We’re supposed to lead by a service heart; it was the perfect opportunity,” she said.

The Latest: In 2020, online learning gave Erica the flexibility to move father away from the Dunwoody Campus to be nearer to her boyfriend — one of her biggest supporters. She plans to graduate from Perimeter in the summer of 2021, noting that her mom and two sisters finished from Georgia State University, including Perimeter. Erica wants to transition to Georgia State’s Atlanta Campus and continue studying criminal justice.