Future Colonel Jenna Shoemaker, a rising freshman in Fall 2020, won’t likely need a campus tour before she officially becomes a Colonel. She is planning on pursuing a degree in biomedical science (pre-med), but she’s already familiar with the Campus Beautiful and the biology department.
That’s because she will be joining her older sister, Lauren Shoemaker, who will be a rising senior in Fall 2020. Lauren is a Secondary Education Biology major.
And she’s going to just miss going to school with her mom, Mary Jo.
Mary Jo Shoemaker just finished her third degree from EKU.
“It has been neat to share professors and have professors discuss our experiences with my daughter that we have had together. We have also been able to collaborate together and I have been able to mentor her to some degree.” Mary Jo said. She just earned her Master of Education degree after earning her bachelor’s in Social Work in December of 1997, followed by an Initial Certification in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education in June 2011.
“We choose EKU because we love the familiarity of the culture and the fact that we have been invested since the early 90s,” Mary Jo said. “We keep choosing EKU because Eastern supports working families with scholarship opportunities, smaller class size, moderate size campus, excellence in programs offered and it meets our needs for the long-term goals we have set for ourselves.”
The end of the spring semester was chaotic, with Jenna trying to finish high school, her mom and older sister trying to finish a degree or get through to a senior year. Remote learning was chaotic as well, with four students (including a younger brother) trying to finish the year online.
“Lauren hopes to return in the Fall as online learning has left her feeling disorganized and struggling to set up a learning environment with everyone being at home,” said Mary Jo. But with mom as a role model, the current and future Colonels are ready for whatever comes next.
The Shoemaker daughters also have a brother who will be a freshman in high school in the fall. He hopes to follow in his families’ footsteps and attend EKU when he graduates.
“Mom has been intentional about showing us how to be a student and having us on campus regularly,” said Jenna and Lauren.