A second chance to follow a dream

In August 2022, Kristi Hilton ’24 registered for college classes for the first time in five years, coming to Lenoir-Rhyne to pursue a long-term goal.

“In the past, I thought of my future as an occupational or physical therapist, but I never had the steps to get there until now,” Hilton shared.

Hilton graduated from Burke County Early College in Morganton, N.C. in 2017, and — like many of her classmates — she headed off to a four-year university. For Hilton, it was East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, N.C.

“I didn’t like it. I didn’t have a roommate, and everything felt so massive. There were so many people that I felt like I was just a number,” Hilton said.

She finished her freshman year at ECU and then decided to get married and stay with her husband as he served in the Marine Corps. Five years later, her husband had completed his term of service and the couple had returned to Morganton.

“He got out of the military in November 2021, and he does line work – power lines – and he really likes that,” Hilton explained, though her inspiration came from an unlikely source. “I was watching this movie about how great these people had it in their lives, and I was like, ‘You know what I want to do? Go back to school.’”

She discovered Lenoir-Rhyne was the nearest school to offer an occupational therapy degree, so she applied for transfer admission. Now she is working on her bachelor’s in exercise science in preparation to pursue a master’s in either occupational therapy or physical therapy.

“Honestly, I’m having a hard time deciding between occupational and physical therapy. I just want to help people who need help,” she shared. “I want to help bring people back up to their best lives.”

Hilton credits the Office of Admission, and her counselor Morgan Logan, assistant director of undergraduate admission, with making the transfer process seamless for her.

“No matter what time it was or where I was, I could ask her a question, and she would have an answer,” Hilton shared.

Now that she’s in her first semester, Hilton is also enthusiastic about her classes and her professors.

“On a lot of the syllabi for my professors, they posted ways to be successful in their class,” she said. “It seems like they actually care about their students because they’re giving you information that you need instead of throwing you into the lion’s den.”

Even though balancing her classes with her job and her personal life is challenging, Hilton is happy to make it work and happy to be moving forward with her life. She’s especially happy that she’s moving forward at LR.

“It’s a good place. It’s small and homey, and you don’t feel like just a number. You feel like a person.”