From GED to a bioinformatics future
Jun 23, 2025Elle Liberty: ‘I had to learn how to learn’
Elle Liberty is set to graduate this summer from Rockingham Community College, with an Associate in Science degree, and then head to UNC-Charlotte to study bioinformatics.
She said bioinformatics is computer science on steroids.
“I want to work in Research Triangle Park,” she said. “Bioinformatics is doing data analysis, making a computer read biomedical science data, and being the communication hub between other people.”
Liberty is doing well at RCC, especially considering the route that led her here.
“When Covid hit, I was in high school. I have ADHD and I’m autistic, and with everything going online, my support systems were gone. I couldn’t finish anything or focus,” she said.
For the first time, she was making failing grades.
“I dropped out and worked in a textile factory with my dad for two years,” Liberty said. “My coworkers were asking what I was doing there because I was smart, and I felt like I was being left behind by my friends who went to college.”
She quit the job and enrolled in the GED program at RCC.
“I finished within three weeks. I took the GED test, attended the last One-Stop Enrollment event, enrolled at RCC, and started classes that Monday,” she said.
“Computer science is not something that I wanted to do, but some of my friends did it, and you can make a lot of money,” she said. “Maybe I’ll minor in creative writing. I like art too, but I don’t want to turn a hobby into a job.”
As an official college student, Liberty quickly became involved in campus life.
She landed a job as a student ambassador, through which she gives tours during new student orientations. Some of those incoming students come to her for help, so she acts as a liaison to connect the students with the right resources.
“I work in the Admissions Office [in the Whitcomb Student Center] on Thursdays, where I sign up students, answer questions, and stuff the orientation folders,” Liberty said.
“Having the support of all those people working in Whitcomb, especially Dr. Carolyn Salanger (vice president for Student Development), makes me feel like I can really do this. It’s nice,” she said.
Liberty also gets a lot of support through TRIO Student Support Services, a federally funded program that provides free support to qualified students, including academic counseling and tutoring. In fact, she works for TRIO as well, tutoring other students and helping in the office.
She has also leaned on help from Debbie Wodhanil, RCC’s accessibility counselor, who was able to communicate with Liberty’s instructors to make sure they understand and accommodate Liberty’s learning needs.
“Accessibility help here is really great, and is more than I’ve seen at other colleges,” she said. “I get what I need; everyone has been responsive to my needs.”
Liberty’s favorite aspect of RCC is the classes.
“I prefer in-person classes, and the teachers are real with you. A lot have helped me to become a much more confident person,” she said. “I’ll say I want to do something, and they’ll say they’ve been through it, don’t do it. They’ve given me life advice.”
One of her struggles, however, has been studying.
“I never studied before coming to college. I would memorize everything, but by the next semester, it was all gone. I had to learn how to learn successfully,” she said.
Her educational pathway requires a lot of math courses.
“I put my phone away until I complete 100 percent of my homework. And if I do not score 100, I call the teacher, ask what I need to do to fix it, and I do it,” she said.
Liberty’s best advice for new college students?
“Ask questions. Ask for help. That was one of the biggest things I had to learn. At first, I was embarrassed to ask questions, but it’s embarrassing to be struggling,” she said. “Make friends with your professors. I email them all the time and ask them to reword something so I can understand it.” And she has good advice for students contemplating college: “It sounds scary and it’s cliché, but just do it!”
Story and photo by Gerri Hunt, RCC director of Public Information
