Deciding to go to college is a big step in anyone’s life; leaving home, meeting new people, and taking new classes can be quite overwhelming.
Now imagine doing that knowing that you’ll stand out as one of the only older students and it can seem even more difficult.
For one woman, a 41-year-old mother of 3, she knew that no matter how uncomfortable it would be, she would do it.
18 years before she enrolled at the Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Tiffany Eckert made a promise to her husband that she would do it one day.
The phone call happened in May of 2005, on Mothers Day; the next phone call Tiffany got was to inform her that her husband had passed away in the line of duty.
Andy Eckert had been sent into an active war zone mere months after their wedding.
Before he left, the couple had managed to get pregnant with their first daughter, Marlee.
Unfortunately, Andy missed Marlee’s birth but Tiffany wanted to honor her husband and blessed the newborn with the middle name of Freedom.
The first time he met his daughter she was 11-months-old, and before he went back on his second deployment, the couple got pregnant again, this time with a boy.
Andy was able to come back on leave in order to see his son’s birth, but he had to go back very shortly afterward.
He called his wife on Mother’s Day and in part of their conversation, Andy made Tiffany promise that she would go back to school to get a college degree.
It was not long before Tiffany got another call, this one informing her that her husband had died from an IED going off beside his Humvee.
The news devastated the young mom, and she spent many years trying to adapt to her new normal as she raised her kids.
18 years later, the Eckert kids were all grown up and going to college.
Tiffany always remembered the promise she had made to her husband and decided that this was the perfect time to fulfill it.
She enrolled and was accepted to the Human Development and Family Studies program; and though the program is normally done in 4 years, Tiffany has managed to get through it in 3.
She wanted to take full advantage of the college experience and actually joined the Sigma Kappa sorority.
“Tiffany is a brave, compassionate, and loyal sister who has definitely helped and inspired many of the girls in our chapter, including me.” Said her ‘sister’, Gillian Backus.
All the girls in the sorority love having Tiffany there, she is both a ‘sister’ and a bit of a mother figure to them all.
Now that she is a few months away from graduating, Tiffany is deciding between continuing on to an undergraduate program, or finding a job in her field.
No matter what decision she makes though, Tiffany knows that Andy will be beside her, helping guide and support her.
“I believe he’s been walking beside me and the kids this entire time.” she said.
“I know that he’ll be right there with me, like he has been for the last 18 years.” she smiled wistfully as she continued, “He’ll be beaming for sure.”
Meet Tiffany and her sorority sisters in the interview video linked below.
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