De Bolton had to start setting goals and when she did, the results were life-changing. This is her story.
Before De Bolton decided to go back to school, she was 205 pounds, a mom with three little girls, and just physically out of shape. At 5’3″, she was obese and decided to kick-start her weight loss, motivated by a mud run with her friends.
Bolton signed up for the mud run and was shocked at how out of shape she was. She wasn’t able to really do most of the obstacles on the mud run and had to walk the entire thing, and the next day afterward, despite all the pain from being so out of shape she decided that she was going to do another mud run, but after committing to getting into shape. “Next time,” she recalls, “would be different.”
The mud run kick-started her weight loss journey she had an online trainer, and a lot of the things her trainer was saying were really questionable, so Bolton started doing her own research and began learning more about fitness and science. She read and researched and in the process, a spark lit inside of her – a newfound passion for physical fitness and personal training.
Then, Facebook intervened. De had never seen a Facebook ad for Bryan University before or since, but that day, she saw a Bryan University Personal Training Facebook ad, and she clicked on it. Almost instantly, Bryan University called her. She remembers talking to an admissions representative for two hours, and then two weeks later she was in school. It was really spur-of-the-moment, that Facebook ad popped up right at the right time for Bolton, and then everything else just lined up.
Bolton loves Bryan University and loved being in school. She loved that it was challenging and her professors, whom she says were very easy to work with. Bolton points out her professors at Bryan were always willing to work with her and there was always a way to get whatever she needed to get done despite life’s challenges.
She remembers two professors that went above and beyond for her – Coach Young and Amber Boyd. These professors, according to Bolton, are very down to earth. They have families and lives and struggles, too. Bolton recalls how they would go above and beyond to help her out.
And when Bolton got frustrated, or at times behind on her work? Her professors had her back and offered words of encouragement. They’d say things like “No, it’s okay, we’re going to do this together.” Everything felt like a team in all of Bolton’s classes, all the time.
Aside from her top-notch professors, Bolton beamed when she spoke about another interesting aspect at Bryan University – the sense of student community. Bolton says she was able to connect and build relationships with other students. She connected with others by participating in virtual live chats, campus-sponsored social media groups, and in the virtual classroom.
Bolton said many of the students she took classes with are her Facebook friends now, and she would actually consider a lot of them as “real friends.” She loved that they used to motivate each other, pick each other up, and high-five each other on social media when things were happening. The close-knit community of classmates would also do study dates on a consistent basis. She described her experience as a “community family.” After learning together for 18 months, Bolton said they all bonded on many things.
Bolton set goals and achieved many accolades at Bryan including several mentions on the Dean’s and President’s lists. She also got herself into impeccable shape based on the nutritional and physical fitness instruction she obtained at Bryan coupled with some hard work and discipline.
She has some advice for students thinking about a return to school saying it’s one of the scariest things for a new student to do, but it will also be one of the most rewarding. She encourages and advises to “just see it through and do it for yourself.” Bolton believes the school is just one of those things, you just have to do it for yourself, and it’s going to make you a better person. Just like an elephant, you got to eat it bite by bite.
This philosophy served her well all throughout school and beyond as she is now on track to becoming a trainer at her local gym.
De Bolton is living proof that when you set goals, work hard, and believe in yourself, you can achieve great things.
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