Student Profiles: Lillian Hawkins

When you're a single mother with a full-time job and a three-year-old son at home, heading back to school to earn your bachelor's may seem daunting enough. For Lillian Hawkins, though, her goal doesn't stop there. Ultimately, she wants to go to law school, eventually earning her Ph.D. in sociology.

Lillian Hawkins

In the meantime, she has her bachelor's to get through. In addition to her full-time position as a patient service specialist in women's health care at the UW Medical Center, her community activism and involvement in local politics, Hawkins recently decided to enroll in the UW's Evening Degree Program to complete her degree in social science and communication.

The Evening Degree Program, she says, "has a great variety of classes, which prep students for most majors … Most of all, working [professionals] are able to pursue a degree and take care of their family."

A Seattle native, Hawkins' passion for education was handed down from her mother. She instilled in Lillian the importance of a good education. Although Lillian left school to pursue her professional career, she soon realized there was only so far she could go without having completed her education. She values the UW Evening degree program because "the majors … are versatile, the school hours are convenient. The Evening Degree Program gave me the opportunity to work [and earn my degree]."

In what spare time she has, Lillian enjoys swimming with her son, "reading, registering people to vote and educating others on the electoral process."

Her ultimate goal is to positively influence those around her and to be an affective participant in education policymaking. In other words, completing the Evening Degree Program is just the beginning.

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