Pam Nelson, a Wichita State online learner, was shocked to hear she was receiving an award for her performance from her home in Texas, but she was determined to be there in person to receive it.

“When Pam O’Neal (Associate Director of Student Engagement) told me I could attend virtually, I’m like, ‘No way,’” Nelson said. “I will be there.”

Nelson and her family drove over five hours from Fort Worth, Texas, for Nelson to receive the new Resilience Award.

Each year, the Office of Online and Adult Learning holds a ceremony to celebrate students who are at least 21 years old and community partners.

The Resilience Award was created to honor former WSU adult learner Arland Wallace. Wallace left Wichita State after his first semester in the 1970s and returned in 2019. He graduated with a degree in archaeology in 2025, even after receiving a brain cancer diagnosis in his senior year.

Katelyn Schrage, an academic advisor, described how Nelson’s experience can inspire others while presenting the Resilience Award at the April 9 awards ceremony.

“Her story reminds us that success doesn’t always follow a straight line, like many of ours do not, and that leadership is not always loud,” Schrage said.

Choosing a path

Nelson — like Wallace — attended WSU briefly before life took a turn. She majored in French in the late 1980’s, then left when she got married and started a family.

She found out about WSU’s online programs, but struggled to find the direction she wanted. The Office of Online and Adult Learning helped her find the organizational leadership program. She is on track to finish her bachelors a year after returning thanks to using her work experience as credits.

“I didn’t know the adult learning team could do what they did for me, which was make a curriculum with online learning and internships,” Nelson said.

Applied learning opportunities helped her find a passion for working with dementia and hospice patients. 

Nelson’s work with multiple non-profits gave her a variety of experiences, from prepping food for patients to learning about fitness and yoga for people with neurological diseases.

She also volunteers at a neighborhood care facility, Timeless Care Homes, and is always ready to jump in and help where she’s needed. Every Wednesday, Nelson said she does hand exercises with patients.

Co-Founder of Timeless Care Homes Tanner Landry said he has seen Pam’s commitment to her new path firsthand.

“She’s just such a go-getter when it comes to this; you can tell that this is definitely a passion for her,” Landry said. “You can really see that she’s determined to do something in this space.”

Pushing through challenges

Nelson said she thought she wasn’t ready to go back to school for a long time. She struggled to admit to her children that she never finished college and thought that if she did return, she would have to continue studying French.

Her first experience with college was difficult, because she lacked the drive and commitment to her schoolwork, Nelson said. When she finally decided to go back to school, her family was nothing but supportive and helped her along the way.

The ability to take online classes helped Nelson deal with challenges she faced as a person with multiple sclerosis. This autoimmune disease can affect an individual’s physical activity and mental faculties.

“It takes me longer to memorize stuff now, so the fact that I was online and could re-listen to the lectures over and over was a dream for me,” Nelson said.

She said Blackboard and other online resources provided immense value that wasn’t there when she first went to school.

“I can check the boxes off of what assignments I have done, and it sends me emails or reminders,” Nelson said. “I’m kind of obsessed with it. I check it multiple times a day.”

Online classes allowed Nelson to fit her schoolwork into her busy schedule and still take care of her health.

Nelson attributed the lack of challenges she faced while working toward her degree to the effort put in by the Office of Online and Adult Learning. The resources and guidance they provided helped her experience be as frictionless as possible.

The road ahead

Nelson plans to continue at WSU by working toward her master’s degree in aging studies, to support her path of working with dementia and hospice patients. Landry has worked to help Nelson find resources and opportunities that will help her move in that direction.

“I’m pretty plugged in our network in the health care world, so she started coming with me to different events,” Landry said. “She’ll go on her own to different events and networking events.”

Nelson said she is grateful for all the experiences that applied learning has given her and has worked to make the most of every opportunity.

Her experience throughout her program reinvigorated what she thought was possible for her.

“I love the musical Hamilton… it says ‘I’m not throwing away my shot,’” Nelson said, “I repeat that to myself, and I wish I wouldn’t have thrown away my shot back then.”