By Lini S. Kadaba
By the time Nicole Reeser-Mazur ’01 Ph.D. ’24 was writing her Alvernia University doctoral dissertation in educational leadership in 2023, she had already overcome more than her share of challenges, any one of which could have easily derailed her education. Fate, though, had one more wallop in store for her. This time, her comeback would depend, in equal measure, on her resilience and on Alvernia’s support for her in a time of need.
As a high school teen more than three decades ago, Reeser-Mazur, became a single mother. The experience, she said, motivated her to consider college. She attended Reading Area Community College (RACC), but when she got pregnant again, she struggled. At one point, she nearly faced homelessness with two young children until a friend opened her home to her.
“It was really hard,” said Reeser-Mazur, 49. “I almost quit.”
Reeser-Mazur didn’t. Transferring to Alvernia, she majored in elementary education and landed at Reading School District as a Head Start teacher. She married and had a third daughter, but the couple eventually divorced and she again found herself a single parent. Still, Reeser-Mazur kept at her education, earning a master’s degree in early childhood education from Albright College in 2011 and rising to supervisory roles at the Berks County Intermediate Unit even while teaching at Harcum College and RACC and raising her three daughters.
Soon, Reeser-Mazur was ready for the next step — a doctorate. Alvernia’s Ph.D. in Leadership was a good fit. It catered to working adults, with resources to help students readjust to the demands of graduate school.
“I was a little rusty," she admitted. "[The program] is very patient with you and works with you so you can get started again.”
Reeser-Mazur was well into her thesis when she suffered a life-threatening brain aneurysm. Hospitalized for two weeks, she faced months of recovery, forcing her to take a break from a new job as the coordinator of early learning programs at Wilson School District and her doctoral studies.