MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – For over 23 years, the dream of earning a high school diploma quietly lingered in the background of Cheryl Woods’ life—a hope she carried through long days and countless responsibilities. Today, that dream is no longer distant. It’s real. Cheryl, once a security guard at the Mobile Public Library, has earned her high school diploma—at the very library Branch she once guarded. It’s a milestone that speaks to perseverance, courage, and the power of second chances.
“I always wanted to finish school,” Cheryl reflected at a recent visit to the Ben May Library. Standing near the library entrance where she formerly had been assigned to greeted and scan patrons for years. “Life happened. I started working, raising a family, and before I knew it, decades had passed.”
Cheryl’s journey is one of grit and grace. After years of putting education on hold, Cheryl made a bold decision: it was time. “I looked around and thought, ‘If I don’t do this now, I never will.’ I wanted to prove to myself—and to my child—that it’s never too late.” And literally in the doors she opened for others, she decided she’d now open for herself. She would rewrite her story…