Paige Malloy was parked outside a Chili’s waiting to receive her next DoorDash delivery order when she opened the email that changed her life.
Academically dismissed from Illinois State University 10 months earlier, Malloy learned she had been readmitted. Tears welled up in her eyes right there in the parking lot.
“Yeah, I cried it out a little bit there,” Malloy said. “I was just so proud of myself and so excited to tell everybody.”
That moment in October 2022 was an important milepost on a journey that took a long and meandering path on the way to its destination: Illinois State’s winter commencement ceremony at CEFCU Arena on Saturday, December 16.
“I’ve been really reflective this semester. I’m very proud to be here,” Malloy said. “Getting my degree is the most important thing to me right now.“
Malloy enrolled at Illinois State in 2018. The Roselle native made friends and joined clubs. She found a part-time job. A first-generation college student who had always enjoyed school, Malloy loved Illinois State from the very beginning.
But things slowly shifted. Getting out of bed for morning classes became challenging, and occasional absences became regular ones. Assignments were given minimal effort and then no effort at all. A pandemic forced classes online where her academic decline was more easily hidden.
In December 2021, she was academically dismissed from the University.
“You don’t just get dismissed,” Malloy said. “There was kind of a downward spiral. I was in some deep denial.”
A week earlier, Malloy had been named a captain of one of Illinois State’s mock trial teams. One of the hardest things was informing her teammates she’d be leaving the team.
“I had given all my time to mock trial and work and friends, and I just ignored that school was going on,” she said. “I ignored that I was doing so bad.”
“I dedicated a ton of time to improving my mental health and just understanding myself as a person apart from school and my career before I reapplied. I didn’t know if they’d let me back in. I was just kind of throwing it out there.”
—Paige Malloy
Malloy’s mental health had declined with her grades. She was deeply depressed. But things started to turn around when she set a goal to return to school and finish her degree. She secured a full-time job at a renewable energy company and earned extra cash driving for DoorDash, all while looking at other schools and nontraditional routes to graduation.
But she wanted to return to Illinois State.
“I dedicated a ton of time to improving my mental health and just understanding myself as a person apart from school and my career before I reapplied,” Malloy recalled. “I didn’t know if they’d let me back in. I was just kind of throwing it out there.”
Readmission to Illinois State was just the start of a new leg of her journey. Much work remained. Failed courses were repeated, and Malloy never missed a class. She became a regular visitor at Milner Library. She made a point to leave her house every day, even when she didn’t have class or work, just to keep her routine.
“The first time around, I really struggled. Depression can control you in really difficult ways,” she said. “But coming back the second time, I took it on full force.”
At midterms of her first semester back, she had straight A’s. “That showed me I was capable,” she said. “I powered through that semester, took some summer classes, and I’m doing good this semester. I’m just a completely different student.”
Malloy will earn a bachelor’s degree in politics and government. She’s already had a taste of local government as a program coordinator in the Town of Normal’s Youth on a Mission program and an intern with the City of Bloomington. Ten days before her Illinois State graduation, Malloy was offered a full-time job in Bloomington’s City Clerk Department.
“I love local government and how it makes real change possible,” she said.
Malloy got some help in reaching the collegiate finish line. She’s thankful for the Department of Politics and Government faculty—especially Drs. Kerri Milita and Lori Riverstone—and Town of Normal Council Member Chemberly Harris. She’s appreciative of Illinois State’s Office of Admissions; the same office that notified her of her dismissal sent a personal note welcoming her back when she was readmitted.
Malloy is most thankful for her “awesome family” who helped her through the ups and downs of a college experience full of them.
“They encouraged me to go to college in the first place,” Malloy said. “My little brother is 15, and he knows that he’s next. He won’t make the same mistakes I made.”
Malloy has a few days left to reflect on her journey before it’s complete. She’ll remember the good and the bad. It’s been a learning experience in every sense.
“For a long time, I was ashamed of the failure. But now I kind of embrace it,” she said. “I learned from those moments, took them with grace, and use them instead of being ashamed of them.
“Those failures taught me so much.”
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.
