{"id":50889,"date":"2025-05-07T10:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T15:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/?p=50889"},"modified":"2025-05-06T09:36:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T14:36:48","slug":"redefining-the-path-meggie-huggins-finds-purpose-voice-visibility-at-acc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/2025\/05\/07\/redefining-the-path-meggie-huggins-finds-purpose-voice-visibility-at-acc\/","title":{"rendered":"Redefining the Path: Meggie Huggins Finds Purpose, Voice & Visibility at ACC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cBe willing to grow. Be willing to change.\u201d \u2013 Meggie Huggins, ACC Graduate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 29, Meggie Huggins is celebrating a major achievement: graduating from Austin Community College District (ACC) with two associate degrees\u2014one in Sociology and another in Social Work. As a nonverbal, first-generation college student, Meggie\u2019s journey is about more than academic success\u2014it\u2019s about advocacy, visibility, and showing her daughters what\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt feels surreal,\u201d Meggie shares. \u201cI\u2019m setting myself up for something different from my parents. My daughters get to see me walk the stage. I get to model what\u2019s possible\u2014and show them they can do it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meggie enrolled at ACC in 2021 and returned in 2024 to complete her degrees. She was drawn to ACC for its affordability and flexibility, but it was the college\u2019s willingness to embrace change\u2014and support her desire to improve accessibility\u2014that made the biggest impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy favorite part of ACC was how the College supported my drive to make education more accessible,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve had the opportunity to bring those conversations directly to leadership. That\u2019s rare, and it\u2019s meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her time at ACC, Meggie discovered new directions and interests\u2014reminding her that college is not a straight line, but a space for evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes you think you\u2019re going down one path,\u201d she says. \u201cThen you take a class in a subject you\u2019ve never considered, and everything shifts. That happened to me. And I\u2019m glad I let it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meggie credits professors Alan Turley and Blanca Alvarado for their support and encouragement throughout her journey. Now, she\u2019s preparing to transfer to a university to pursue bachelor\u2019s degrees in both Social Work and Sociology\u2014continuing her work to build a more equitable and inclusive future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her message to others considering college?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe willing to grow. Be willing to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know a 2025 grad like Meggie? Celebrate their story at austincc.edu\/commencement<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBe willing to grow. Be willing to change.\u201d \u2013 Meggie Huggins, ACC Graduate At 29, Meggie Huggins is celebrating a major achievement: graduating from Austin Community College District (ACC) with two associate degrees\u2014one in Sociology and another in Social Work. As a nonverbal, first-generation college student, Meggie\u2019s journey is about more than academic success\u2014it\u2019s about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":50890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1004,540,1121],"class_list":["post-50889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-congrats-grads","tag-social-work","tag-spring-2025-commencement","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}