My Way Back
Lilly Uvalle knew she wanted to attend the University of California, Merced long before she ever applied.
As a third grader, she watched the unveiling of the university's first bobcat mascot and quietly made herself a promise.
"One day, I'm going to go there."
Years later, that dream became reality. As a first-generation Mexican American college student, Lilly arrived on campus full of hope. Her parents couldn't tell her how college worked, but they believed in her completely.
For a while, that was enough.
Then the challenges began.
Choosing a major felt overwhelming. Coursework became increasingly difficult. She balanced a work-study job while quietly struggling with anxiety, bullying, and mental health challenges she didn't yet understand. She could spend hours reading without remembering a single page.
"I thought maybe college just wasn't for me."
She left school.
She returned.
She left again.
After becoming a mother, Lilly made another attempt. Without reliable childcare, she pushed a stroller across campus, carrying a backpack, diaper bag, and the hope that her daughter would sleep through class. Some professors welcomed her baby with kindness. Other days, she quietly left class in tears when the reality of balancing motherhood and college became too much.
Once again, she stepped away.
Everything changed in 2019.
After years of struggling without answers, Lilly finally received a mental health diagnosis and began treatment.
"For the first time, things started to make sense."
She could focus.
She could think clearly.
She could finally understand that the challenges she had experienced weren't a reflection of her ability.
Then came another heartbreaking loss.
In 2020, Lilly's father passed away from COVID-19. He had always dreamed of seeing her graduate. Though he wouldn't be there to watch her cross the stage, his memory became one of the reasons she refused to quit.
The breakthrough finally arrived in 2022 when UC Merced's Degree Completion Program reached out and invited her back.
Instead of expecting Lilly to navigate the system alone, the program helped her every step of the way. Counseling services supported her mental health. Student Accessibility Services provided accommodations that allowed her to demonstrate what she knew. Her family helped care for her daughters while she rebuilt the dream she had carried since childhood.
This time, she wasn't doing it alone.
In December 2024, Lilly earned her bachelor's degree in Public Health.
As she crossed the stage, her daughters cheered from the audience. She could almost feel her father cheering with them.
Today, Lilly has come full circle.
She now serves as a reentry advisor for the very Degree Completion Program that helped her graduate, guiding adult learners who wonder if it's too late to come back.
"I've been where you are."
She tells them something she now knows to be true.
Sometimes people don't struggle because they lack ability. They struggle because they haven't yet found the support they need to succeed.
Her story reminds us that education isn't simply about determination. When institutions meet adult learners where they are, comeback stories become possible.
Lilly Uvalle is one of fifty adult learners featured in Beyond the Degree: Stories of Adult Learner Comebacks and What They Teach Us. Read her complete story in her own words, and discover what these remarkable comebacks teach us, in the book from the Center for Academic Innovation.