Ex-drug addict, droput earns academic honors

Not long ago, Candace Small of Thomasville was a high school dropout and drug addict few would have considered for academic honors.

But after a stellar turnaround at Guilford Technical Community College, the 29-year-old mother of three graduated this month as Outstanding College Transfer Graduate. GTCC President Don Cameron also gave her the scholarship that bears his name to cover University of North Carolina at Greensboro tuition and fees for two years.

Small, who became a math whiz at GTCC, wants to become a math teacher.

Small's troubles started when at age 10 she became caregiver for two siblings. Three years later, she was diagnosed with chronic depression, post traumatic stress and obsessive compulsive disorders and left home and school. Hanging out with the wrong crowd and developing some bad habits led to drug addiction, Small said.

"Between the age of 18 and 24, I was on and off of drugs," she said. "I've been clean now for five years."

Small decided to enroll at GTCC in2005 while her then-soldier husband Joe was in Iraq with the National Guard.

"Once my husband returned, I decided I wanted to go back to school and do something else with my life in addition to being a mother and a wife," Small said.

Small also worked part time as a supplemental instruction teacher to earn extra money.

"She is a true leader in every sense of the word," said Susan Barbitta, a developmental education math instructor. "Being a student herself afforded her leverage with the math students."

Small said Barbitta's guidance encouraged her.

"I want to do algebra. It lays the foundation students will need later," Small said.

While scholarships will pay school fees, Small will have to work to earn money to cover child care expenses.

"It probably will take me three years to finish," Small said.