On Saturday, Sanchez and MaGalie Jones proudly will walk across the stage at Cobb Energy the Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta to receive their bachelors degrees from Saint Leo University.
Sanchez and Maggie Jones attended Saint Leos Gwinnett Education Center in Duluth and live in Loganville, GA.
They are veterans of the U.S. Navy, both having served as E4s, Petty Officers 3rd Class. While they enjoyed serving their country, juggling family life and the military with two spouses in the same field, was difficult. They decided not to continue their military careers and to enroll in college, Sanchez Jones said.
While they attended another college at first, the Joneses later enrolled at Saint Leo. It was different at first, Sanchez said. The speed of the classes was different as its eight weeks [sessions], but the way they provided the classes, it went really well.
Sanchez, 31, and Maggie, 35, enjoyed their time at Saint Leos Gwinnett location. We have three kids, and we were working and going to school, and indulging in all of their [the childrens] extracurricular activities, Sanchez said. But we found the classes convenient.
A Saint Leo instructor made Sanchez fall in love with the accounting process, he said, so he pursued a degree in accounting. The Joneses were corpsmen in the Navy, and Maggie was drawn to the health care field.
Come Saturday, they will be joined by a lot of family as their names are called: Sanchez Maurice Jones will earn his Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting and MaGalie Jones will earn her Bachelor of Science degree in health care management. MaGalie already has an internship in her field and Sanchez is looking to join an accounting firm.
The highest ranking African-American in the Georgia Air National Guard will give the commencement address for the Atlanta graduation ceremony of Saint Leo University. About 260 students from the Marietta, Gwinnett, and Morrow education centers of Saint Leo will graduate at noon, Saturday, May 28, at Cobb Energy & Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30339.
Most students will receive their Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees, while about 45 will earn Master of Business Administration degrees and about 30 will earn Master of Science in criminal justice degrees. In addition, about 40 students will earn their Associate of Arts degrees.
