When Leanna Whitaker walks across the stage May 12 at Georgia Perimeter College’s graduation ceremony, she will leave with a lot of positive memories.

As GPC Newton’s student government president, intern for the college alumni association and the 2012 GPC Newton Homecoming queen, Whitaker says she has gained a lot of leadership skills, made friends and developed a healthy resume in the process.

It’s a far cry from her first year at GPC, when Whitaker entered with no friends and few expectations of college life.

“I did not get into my school of choice, and all of my friends were dispersed all over the place. I had to start over,” she says, admitting that she sulked. “My first semester at GPC was pretty bad.”  

She started a job at McDonald’s and her life consisted of school and work. “I didn’t plan on being here long.”

That changed when a professor asked her if she intended to stay miserable. “He said he was tired of seeing me walk around being miserable. He told me to get involved.”

Whitaker says she “kind of woke up” at his suggestion, and started talking to people in her classes and attending events on campus. Then she ran for Homecoming queen. “One of my friends said ‘do it—it will be fun,’” she remembers. “And it was fun.”

She was shocked when she won—and encouraged to get more involved in college life.

Whitaker joined the campus Student Government Association and filled an empty secretarial position within the organization. She won the post during elections and then ran unopposed for the vice-presidential position. When the group’s president had to leave mid-term, she filled that post as well. In 2013, she ran unopposed for SGA president.

Whitaker is the first in her family to attend college. Since she also worked while she attended school, taking just a few classes each semester, her educational journey took four years. She finished in December with her associate degree in psychology. 

Whitaker has been accepted to Georgia State University. She is looking forward to at least another four years of college to get her bachelor’s and master’s degrees; she hopes to work as a pediatric neuropsychologist.

“I’m really excited to start Georgia State in the fall, but I will be back to GPC to visit,” Whitaker says. She reflected that her GPC experience was transformative. “It really is two years—and in my case, four years—that will change your life. It is a college that gives you a whole new perspective on life.”