Minnie Carter had a rocky start. She was one of six children, all raised by relatives or foster families. She had a child of her own at 15. And she dropped out of high school.

Then she caught a break. Carter moved from Greenville, South Carolina to Indianapolis to join a Purdue University-funded program for single teen mothers. With help from the program, she became a nursing assistant and then went to college to become a nurse.

Paul  Rigel , Lake Wales Charter School District

Paul Rigel has bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology, a masters in religion, and a seminary degree, so when he got laid off after working as an associate pastor for 25 years, his first thought wasn’t about going back to school.

But Rigel, 56, wanted to work with kids. “I wanted to give back to kids who didn’t get what I’d gotten,” he explains.

So back to school he went.

Mattie Ruffin , Envision 50+

After 27 years in the federal government, most of it at the Environmental Protection Agency, Mattie Ruffin retired. “I wanted to relax and do a little bit of nothing,” she says.

“But after that first year,” she adds, “I realized that I have very good skills and didn’t want to lose them.”

Hank Smith , Morgan Community College

Nearly 40 years ago, Hank Smith graduated from high school, joined the Navy and briefly attended nursing school, even taking on a health care job while in the service.

As much as he enjoyed the health field, Smith left the Navy and got an entry-level job at the U.S. Postal Service. He worked his way up from mail processing to retail associate to local Postmaster and, then, at 55, he retired – in part, to help care for his mother.