When we think about scholarships, we usually picture a recent high school graduate heading off to college thanks, in part, to some form of financial assistance. That scholarship story is very common, of course, but it’s far from the only one.

This month, across our region, adults who long ago left high school are returning to campus while working long hours, raising children, caring for family members and managing the responsibilities of daily life. Some are pursuing four-year degrees. Others are attending community colleges, technical schools or certification programs that provide paths to new careers and higher wages.

Assisting these adults is an important way in which the Community Foundation of Sarasota County is supporting families as they strive to disrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty.

So far this calendar year we have provided roughly $450,000 in scholarships to nearly 140 adult students across Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties, and in two weeks applications open once again for adults pursuing new career and education opportunities. We don’t require that applicants tell us every detail of their lives, but, thanks to demographic data many of them voluntarily share, a portrait of our adult scholarship recipients emerges: Their average age hovers around 33; 86 percent are women; and more than 60 percent are parents. What’s more—about six out of 10 come from families in which neither of their parents earned a college degree.

One of those learners, a full-time working mother, recently shared her story with the foundation. She spoke frankly about how difficult it was to balance her job, her family and the demands of completing her degree. There were long days, real sacrifices and moments when quitting would have been an understandable decision.

But she kept at it. And, in the end, her degree changed her career and expanded what was possible for both her and her family. Neither of her parents had finished school, but today she is a college graduate, and her eldest daughter has also graduated from college and is now preparing for law school.

This mother’s story resonated with me. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I returned to school to earn a graduate certificate in strategic foresight. My children, who were in middle school at the time, watched me navigate work, family and an intensive program during one of the most uncertain periods in all our lives. I hope that my children seeing me commit to a goal and work to achieve it expanded their sense of what they are capable of.

Adult learners study after their children go to bed, complete assignments between shifts at work and press forward despite financial pressures and competing demands. They are not looking for an easy answer or path. They are looking for the opportunity to make their hard work lead somewhere new. And for those with children, their sons and daughters get to witness persistence in action.

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s next Adult Scholarship application period, which is open to students 24 and older, runs Aug. 15-Sept. 15. Learn more at cfsarasota.org.

Jessica Muroff is the president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.