Morgan Family Finds Right Fit at Joliet Junior College

Krystal Morgan and her family are a pack of Wolves. Morgan, her daughter Dyman Jenkins and husband Rashad Bingham all attended Joliet Junior College during the spring 2022 semester.

When Krystal began her research into where and how to continue her education, she decided to be an example and “wanted to dispel the negative thoughts about attending a community college.”

Krystal initially attended JJC in 2011 but struggled with school/work/life balance. Ten years later, she returned as an adult student and earned her associate degree in spring 2022.

“JJC made me feel so warm and comfortable,” she says. “I think once my family saw the school’s positive impact on me, they felt it was OK for them to try, and they, too, enjoyed the experience.”

Rashad, her husband, enrolled in summer 2021 shortly after his wife completed her first semester back. Both are first-generation college students. Daughter Dyman followed about a year later in spring 2022.

“The amount of love and care Krystal received made it feel like a perfect place for us all to continue our education,” Rashad says.

JJC may have been the perfect place for them, but physically, they weren’t in the same place.

In the liberal arts program and an active member of the Black Student Union, Krystal was often at Main Campus. Taking advantage of flexible options, her husband Rashad has been taking online management information systems courses. Part of the baking and pastry program, her daughter Dyman mostly had less traditional classes at City Center in Downtown Joliet.

They were able to teach one another different things, helped keep one another on task and held one another accountable.

“We had a different shared experience, and I am grateful for that,” Krystal says.

This story originally appears in the Fall 2022 issue of Connections magazine.