Family is everything for graduating Redbird Kiara Mills. Her parents motivated her to excel in college, and her friends and mentors at Illinois State University became a supportive, extended family on campus.
This Saturday, December 16, Mills will make her family proud when she graduates with a bachelor’s in human development and family science (HDFS). Next December, she’ll return to CEFCU Arena to receive a graduate degree through the program’s accelerated sequence.
“It’s going to happen, and I just can’t believe it!” Mills said. “I feel like I’ve waited a long time for this, but I’m ready.”
A first-generation student from Homewood, Mills began her higher ed journey in 2018 at Heartland Community College in Normal.
“It was very nerve-racking. I didn’t know anyone there,” Mills said. “I was just trying to navigate how to get through school.”
Mills found a support system in Project RISE, a federal TRIO program, designed to motivate and support first-generation students. But when the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes online, Mills struggled with online learning.
“School during the pandemic was hard for me. I fell off,” she said. “I was working, and I had a hard time with online classes. So, I struggled, and I was there longer than I originally planned.”
Mills credits her Project RISE advisors and her family for guiding her through the challenging time.
“I’m just so thankful for the connections I made at ISU. I thought I was going to be so lost coming out here because I didn’t know anyone. But I found my way.”
Kiara Mills
While progressing toward an associate degree, Mills learned about Illinois State’s HDFS major in the College of Applied Science and Technology. It seemed like the perfect fit. She envisioned herself working for an adoption agency, connecting children with families.
“I have the best family ever, and I feel like everybody deserves to feel that same kind of love,” Mills said.
Along with their unconditional love, Mills’ parents have instilled a strong work ethic in their daughters. Mills’ father, Willie, owns a mobile pizza business on top of his full-time railroad career, and her mother, Kesha, owns a cake business and runs an organization that supports victims of domestic violence.
“Not only are we loving people to each other, but we love everybody outside of our family,” Mills said. “With my parents, I just see what they do in their lives and how helpful they are to other people. I love that.”
With her parents’ support, Mills began classes at Illinois State in spring 2022, and her HDFS classes cemented her desire to work in the social services sector. In addition to adoption, family therapy piqued Mills’ interest. She said her Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) professors have empowered her to effectively help others in a variety of ways.
“The professors in FCS are so awesome,” Mills said. “They give us the resources to be successful. They talk to us about potential careers, and they give us opportunities to go to conferences. They also get us out of our comfort zones with different projects to prepare us for our future careers.”
Mills has excelled academically and was accepted to join the HDFS accelerated master’s program. For the past two semesters, Mills took a combination of undergraduate and graduate courses. After earning her bachelor’s degree Saturday, she will return in the spring for two more semesters of grad school.
“Working on my undergrad and master’s at the same time—it’s a lot,” Mills said. “I never thought I would be doing this. But I’m happy.”
Mills is grateful for her Redbird family, including TRIO advisors, Multicultural Center staff and students, fellow members of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship registered student organization, and FCS faculty, staff, and students.
“I’m just so thankful for the connections I made at ISU,” Mills said. “I thought I was going to be so lost coming out here because I didn’t know anyone. But I found my way. It was overwhelming at times. But God took care of everything for me.”
Mills has paid it forward by returning to Heartland as a Project RISE peer mentor. She is also a student worker at Illinois State’s Multicultural Center.
“It’s a big family (at the Multicultural Center),” Mills said. “I’ve grown so much in that space. We all help each other, they’re attentive to student needs, and it’s so inclusive. I love it.”
Although Mills’ college journey won’t come to an end at commencement this weekend, she is excited to celebrate the first of two higher ed milestones. Mills said she hopes that becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree will inspire future generations.
“I know school isn’t for everybody, but I would like for my kids to experience this,” Mills said. “I love to learn, and I think it’s important to learn and to grow. It’s important to venture out and understand different things in life. This was such a growing experience for me.”
This story is one of a series of profiles on Redbirds who are graduating this December. Two commencement ceremonies to recognize more than 1,300 graduates will take place Saturday, December 16, at CEFCU Arena. For more information about how Illinois State is celebrating commencement, visit the Graduation Services website.
