For Maureen Leahey, coming back to school doesn’t mean finding quiet study space in Shannon Library and enjoying a home football game, but attending class on her cellphone while doing laundry, studying while cooking dinner and hitting the books during her daughter’s cross-country practices.
Leahey, known as “Mo” to peers and professors, is a different sort of Hoo. She’s the kind who searched for a career, started a family, survived some tough times and then started working toward her dream: a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
“I’ve been a Wahoo since, gosh, like I was 18, so that’s about 31 years,” she said. “I’ve been a fan of UVA for such a long time, but when I was in high school, even considering applying for UVA wasn’t in the cards. The grade requirements needed when you’re in high school are significant, and when I was 18, I knew I didn’t have the grades to get into the school.”
That was then. This is now: the Virginia Beach resident is working toward her Bachelor of Professional Studies in Health Sciences Management degree through UVA’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Like students on Grounds, Leahey’s experience involves balancing schedules, finding study time and mixing school with life. The difference is she divides her hours between UVA, her 12-year-old daughter, Trinity; and her job as a compliance auditor with Sentara Health.
She’s also involved in student activities, serving on the University Judiciary Committee and mentoring other School of Continuing and Professional Studies students. She was recently inducted into UVA’s Beta Iota Sigma chapter of the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society for her academic excellence, and won one of 23 Alpha Sigma Lambda scholarships for the new school year.
Enjoying a recent rare weekend on Grounds, Leahey and her daughter, Trinity, stand on the Rotunda’s steps during a walk about the Academical Village. Like most students, Leahey’s college experience involves balancing schedules, finding study time and mixing school with life. (Photo by Lathan Goumas)
“You just have to put your head down,” she said. “There have been some semesters where I have my books with me at all times in the car, and I’m studying in strange places. I take them to track meets, cross-country practices or basketball practices because I want to support my daughter in her activities and sports, even while doing my thing. I never sit idly waiting. You just have to bring your books with you, just like normal college students do.”
Her journey is a family affair. Trinity gives her the time and space to be a student. Trinity has even been encouraged to participate in classes by some professors, making her feel “part of something a little bit bigger.”
And Trinity is a big reason why Leahey has taken summers off school and set herself on course to graduate in 2027, the same year Trinity transitions from middle school to high school.
“I asked her, ‘If I graduate in ’27, that’ll be the same year that you graduate eighth grade. I want to make sure I’m not taking anything away from you. I don’t want to steal your thunder.’ She thought it would be great, and we could even get photos on Grounds of both of us in caps and gowns,” Leahey recalled.
Leahey brings a life of experience to her UVA studies, and some will influence her after she graduates in 2027, including having endured the health and psychological impacts of domestic violence.
“My daughter and I went through domestic violence in 2014, and that shed a big light on a lot of issues for me,” she said. “When you go through a situation like that, it’s constant fight-or-flight, and your body cannot handle that. We’re not designed to constantly run from the lion that’s chasing us, and it can turn into health issues.”
