This Is Germanna
Some arrive knowing exactly where they’re going. Others are figuring it out. Some are starting. Some are starting over.
This Is Germanna. One story at a time.
Charles Martin · September 23, 2026
I started studying voice when I was like 19 years old. That’s always been my passion. I grew up in Belleville, Michigan, and I’ve always been interested in music. I was in a very good high school choir, and when I was 17, I was performing opera.
When I was 19, I started studying voice with a great teacher in the Detroit area who had studied the Melocchi method. That’s where I really started learning the technique that I still use today.
Then life took me in other directions. I joined the Navy in 1987 and served as a hospital corpsman until 1991. I was stationed at Quantico, which is how I first got to know this area. After I got out, I traveled around for a while. In my 30s, I went back to Eastern Michigan University, where I studied music performance. But I never finished.
I ended up in Blacksburg and was there for about 30 years. Music was still part of my life, but I wasn’t doing enough. I kind of let things slip. I’ve always wanted to go back to school. That was always the goal. It just was never really the right time.
Then I came back to this area in February. I thought, well, maybe I need to start at the beginning and just do it. I need to get back and do what I should have done before. That’s why I applied to Germanna. Now I’m studying general studies with an emphasis in humanities and arts. I’m taking a full load because I want to get done in two years so I can transfer to the University of Mary Washington and get my music degree.
Coming back after all these years, the technology has been the hardest part. Back in my day, you typed your homework and printed it. Now I’ve got Canvas and online classes and all that. But I’ve also got to stay focused. I’ve learned that before. Opportunities can come along and pull you away from what you really came here to do. I don’t want to let that happen again.
Music is still my passion. I get on YouTube and listen to some of these great artists and sing along. I’ve got wood floors in my apartment, so it sounds like I’m in a concert hall. My neighbors don’t mind. They love it. That’s my workout. I do vocalization workouts.
I’ve got a friend who is a baritone, and we’ve talked about creating a home studio to teach the method I learned when I was 19. And I think that’s what I would tell anybody who didn’t finish school when they were younger: You’re not stuck where you’re at. There’s never a time when you can’t get ahead. No matter how old you are, if you’ve got the drive and the motivation to do it, you should be able to. I’m 65. I’ll be 66 in January. This is what I always wanted to do, and now I’m doing it.
—Charles Martin, Germanna Student
Leslie Conway · September 16, 2026
When I went to college, I had no idea what I was doing. My parents didn’t go to college. The goal for me was to complete high school. My guidance counselor, Mrs. “Eleanor” Thompson, who was African American, said to me, ‘You are going to go to Hampton University.’ It was the only school I remember applying to. Even going through the process of financial aid and admissions, I didn’t know what to do, who to talk to. I was lost. It took me a long time to figure those things out. I became a resource for other parents and students trying to navigate that whole process. That was really important to me because I didn’t have that.
My own experiences have shaped the work I’ve chosen to do. I started working at SAFE, Services to Abused Families, in Culpeper in 2005. Listening to other women’s stories, knowing that I wasn’t alone, was a way for me to deal with my own trauma. I wanted to be an advocate for other women and children who were experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault and wanted a way out.
When I went to the Action Alliance [Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance] in Richmond, we did a lot of policy work, fighting for women’s rights and funding, getting legislators to listen and understand the need for it. I’m a lifetime member of Action Alliance. I still support them and do the work because it’s really important.
The work was actually pretty similar to what I do here at Germanna, advocating for our students. Information is power. When I started as a workforce advisor, I knew nothing about it. I learned everything I could from those who did know.
When I was in high school, there was such a stigma attached to students who went to a trade school or technology center. I went to the Piedmont Technology Center and became a certified nursing assistant. Now, those students who pursued their trades—the plumbers, the electricians, the HVAC technicians—we call on them all the time because we need their services. To see my former classmates who have their own plumbing business, their own HVAC business is validating.
I share that story with some of my students when they are wavering between whether they want to get a degree or certification or credential. I tell them, ‘You know, there is no shame in pursuing the trades. You can make a very lucrative career if you want to enter this pathway and that’s where your passion is.’
Students come here for an opportunity to better themselves. I get to be a part of that story. I can’t determine what success is for anybody. However they define it, I want them to be able to accomplish that, so they can pay it forward.
—Leslie Conway, Germanna Workforce Advisor
Kaitlyn Lamb · September 9, 2026
I left Virginia for Atlanta right out of high school. I had $500 and a suitcase. I knew one person. When I got there, it was not the situation I was expecting. I found myself at a crossroads. I stuck it out. I found a job as a server and got certified as a make-up artist. I spent 10 years there.
I never planned on being a mom. After I found out I was pregnant, I moved back to Virginia. When you become a mom, you have to face a lot of things you could get away with ignoring your whole life. I didn’t have an ideal childhood. My father is incarcerated. Some of my family members have struggled with addiction. I was raised by my grandparents.
Your kid is going to see what you do. Kids absorb everything. You’re their first role model. When it’s hard, you’ve got to keep going. Because they’re watching you.
When someone told me to go back to school, I was like, ‘Get real.’ I didn’t think I was going to be able to pull this off. I started and just didn’t give up. It’s given me a lot more confidence and a sense of belonging.
Being a single parent is a struggle. Some people won’t see your dream or vision, but it’s not theirs to see. You’ve got to find people who do. You’ve got to surround yourself with people who do. Once you come to Germanna, you will find someone who will support you. You have no idea how many people will root for you, people who don’t even know you.
You might not get there on a straight road. Success is not like that. It’s up and down and you might go backwards a few times. But eventually, you get there.
—Kaitlyn Lamb, Germanna Business Student
Michelle Rivas · September 2, 2026
I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was little. My mom has always been a CNA. She would come home in scrubs. I was inspired.
In high school, I worked as an office manager and stayed there after I graduated. It was familiar. Now, I’m almost 30. I have three kids. My oldest is five and just started kindergarten. My second daughter is three, and I have a newborn who is two months old.
When I had my first child, she was in the NICU. The nurses took really good care of me, and it really matters during that time who is taking care of you. You’re going through a lot.
After I had my second child, I realized I was not happy where I was working or where I was in life. I wanted to do something worthwhile. I deserve more for myself and my family.
I went back to school. Honestly, I didn’t think I could do it. But there was another parent in the program. She did it, so I thought I could do it, too. I want to be a labor and delivery nurse.
I work full-time as a CNA. I’ve been on night shifts for about a year. Balancing school and work is doable, but it takes a lot of sacrifice. I’ve had to learn how to manage my time and stay organized. There are days when I’m tired, but I remind myself why I started in the first place.
—Michelle Rivas, Germanna student