Entrepreneur seeks degree at GNTC

A Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) student is studying Business Technology more than 20 years after receiving her High School Equivalency through GNTC.

Amanda Chadwell, 42, was born in Florida and moved to Georgia when she was 11. Family circumstances led her to drop out of high school. Chadwell, then an 18-year-old mother-to-be enrolled at GNTC’s Walker County Campus in Rock Spring to earn her High School Equivalency, has just completed her first semester as a returning student at the Polk County Campus in Rockmart and expects to graduate with her associate degree next year.

“I was raised by a single parent who, unfortunately, suffers from significant bouts of mental illness,” Chadwell said. “She took my two siblings and me out of school when I was halfway through my third-grade year.”

The children stayed busy with several jobs which included paper routes, lawn service and operating a fruit and vegetable stand. Chadwell said she yearned to go to school and at 15 enrolled at a local high school. She enjoyed making friends, engaging in social activities and taking interesting classes; however, she struggled to complete her work because she lacked the foundational knowledge that a ninth-grader is expected to have.

“The real reason I fell behind at school wasn’t something that I could share with my teachers or school administrators, so I coped by pretending to be less intelligent, apathetic or both,” she said. “I was neither but knew that there would be less fallout if it were a ‘me’ problem. I dropped out of high school after my first year and went straight to working full-time. This was the first time that I felt I had betrayed myself.”

Two years later she learned that she was pregnant.

“I knew that I needed an education if I were going to provide a better life for my baby,” she said. “I enrolled in night classes and eventually earned my High School Equivalency diploma. I started college classes towards the end of my pregnancy, which probably was not the best idea, and continued taking classes after having my child.”

Following her daughter’s complicated birth and ongoing health issues, as well as some other challenges, Chadwell left college, hoping to return again in the future while knowing that her lack of a degree would create another obstacle to finding meaningful employment, she said.

Chadwell said after having a number of different jobs throughout her life, she found a true passion for people while working as a 911 dispatcher.

“I am naturally calm under pressure and felt privileged to help others when they were at their most vulnerable,” she said. “Eventually I met a wonderful man who would one day become my husband. He worked for a non-profit organization that trained individuals with special needs to use assistive technology at school and work; I had been looking for a way to continue helping others but no longer in an emergency situation, so I began training as an assistive technology professional soon after we married in 2008.”

The couple worked side-by-side for the next two years, meeting with high school and college students who would benefit from assistive technology, she said.

“Through a series of opportunities, I was inspired to start my own company that provided needs assessments and training to wounded service members and disabled civilians for the federal government,” she said. “I prayed that we would be awarded one contract but was blown away when we were given three.”

Chadwell characterized the first few years as rewarding but challenging because she had no prior experience owning or operating a company. She received guidance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Chadwell said she appreciates her mother for the time and experience she provided as an administrative assistant to help her understand the business world and how to operate in it; she is grateful to her husband because her career meant lots of travel and nights away from home.

“Through this incredible privilege, I could travel all over the United States and meet many brave and interesting people,” she said. Over the next 15 years, she built her company and had two more children.

As her children grew up, she wanted to be closer to home and transitioned her contract work from the federal government to state government, which allowed her to be home most nights, she said. She worked with Georgia’s Department of Labor Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered many businesses and dried up her opportunities for contract work, she took stock of her life. Despite serving on the board of a mentor training program for women at her church and welcoming two grandchildren, she still felt incomplete and pondered returning to college for her degree. She said she felt fortunate to be able to focus solely on her education at this time.

“I wanted a degree, and earning it would make me the first person in my family to have one,” she said. “I wanted it for them, but I wanted it even more for myself.”

After her second-born daughter graduated high school and a friend, Nicole, earned her High School Equivalency and subsequently enrolled at GNTC, Chadwell knew the time had come. She said she continues to be grateful for her friend’s encouragement and example.

“I chose GNTC because I had previously attended here nearly 23 years ago and wanted to complete my dream of a degree at the same school that saw its beginning,” she said. She was also impressed with the number of degree options offered at GNTC.

Chadwell said she enrolled in GNTC’s Business Technology program because “it incorporates many of the skills and programs that I have been using for years in my professional life.”

“The coursework offered at GNTC provides the foundation for your future,” Chadwell said. “Your hard work and commitment will see you to the next level of success. I know that the degree that I will earn at the end of my program will provide me with a launchpad into my next career and at less than half the cost for the same coursework at other colleges.”

After completing her degree, she plans to continue her education and then launch into a new professional opportunity; however, she admits that she is torn between her ideas for starting another company and having the freedom to spend time with her grandchildren whenever she wants.

Chadwell said her husband is a senior software engineer for a large company. Their oldest child, 23, has two children and plans to graduate with a degree in psychology in 2026. Their middle child, 18, would like to become a veterinarian for exotic animals and is beginning her second year of college. Their youngest will be 15 this year.

Barbara Capes, Business Technology instructor at GNTC and Chadwell’s advisor, characterized Chadwell as “a self-starter who follows up and is very motivated to succeed.”

“Amanda’s story showcases her incredible strength and tenacity,” said Leyner Argueta, program director and instructor of Business Management at GNTC. “Despite her circumstances growing up, she worked multiple jobs to support her family.”

“Driven by a desire for education and a better future, she earned her High School Equivalency and started college classes while raising her first child,” Argueta said. He is impressed that she has overcome “numerous challenges” and “is determined to fulfill her long-held dream of completing a degree in Business Technology.”

“Life is short,” Chadwell reminds others. “Trauma or bad experiences don’t have to stop your dreams or purpose in life. Find healing, and enjoy the time that you are given.”