WGU ALUMNI
Hoo's Who at WGU
Meet inspiring Night Owl graduates and discover their stories.
Meet Jemmy Manzanares
Bachelor of Arts, Educational Studies in Elementary Education | 2024
Master of Education, Education Technology and Instructional Design | 2025
North Carolina
I Will Always Be an Owl
After coming to the United States from Honduras and struggling to find an educational path that worked for him, Jemmy Manzanares found the support he needed at WGU. Two degrees later, he is helping other educators grow—and inspiring his own family to dream bigger.
Before WGU, Jemmy Manzanares was beginning to wonder whether earning his degree was going to be possible.
Originally from Honduras, Jemmy knew education could help him grow professionally and increase his earning potential in the United States. But his experience at another college left him struggling. He felt that he was not receiving the attention and support he needed.
Then he learned about WGU.
What caught Jemmy’s attention was not only the online format and affordability but also the promise that he would have someone in his corner.
“I needed someone to push me,” he said. “I needed someone to be there whenever I had a problem.”
WGU’s flexible, competency-based model gave Jemmy the ability to build school around work and family rather than the other way around. He could determine how much time to dedicate to his courses and move at a pace that worked for him.
It worked well enough that he eventually earned two WGU degrees.
“I love Western Governors University,” Jemmy said. “It has been the best place.”
More Than a Mentor
For Jemmy, one part of the WGU experience stands above almost everything else: his relationship with his Program Mentor.
“The mentor was the best thing,” he said.
Over time, his mentor learned how Jemmy worked, when he needed encouragement, and when something deeper was getting in the way. She helped him set goals, kept him accountable, and supported him not only as a student, but as a person.
That relationship became especially important when Jemmy’s father became seriously ill in Honduras. Jemmy traveled back to be with him without knowing how long he would need to stay. With assignments still waiting, he began to wonder whether the situation would force him to stop school altogether.
“I thought that was the end of the rope,” he said.
Instead, his mentor helped him break the situation down one assignment at a time and worked with his course instructor so he could keep moving forward.
“She helped me. She strategized with me,” Jemmy said. “I felt that she was there not just to support me as a student but also as a person.”
That support stayed with him all the way to commencement.
After years of phone calls and conversations, Jemmy finally met his mentor face-to-face at graduation. As he crossed the stage, he heard her shouting his name from the audience.
“That was amazing,” he said. “That’s a moment I would not change for anything in the world.”
Becoming the Example
Jemmy’s degrees expanded his career possibilities and gave him something he had once lacked: choice.
Today, he serves as an ESL Coordinator at the Institute for the Development of Young Leaders, where he supports students and helps guide other teachers. He also dreams of one day creating a charter school in North Carolina for students facing challenges similar to those he experienced.
But the impact of Jemmy’s education extends far beyond his own career.
His family watched him persist through difficult moments and come out the other side with two degrees. Now, some family members who had delayed pursuing their own education have returned to school, while others with bachelor’s degrees are considering master’s programs.
His son, who is pursuing a pre-med path with hopes of becoming a physician, has told him something that means even more:
“Dad, I want to be like you.”
For Jemmy, that may be one of the greatest rewards of all.
“Everything that I have accomplished until now is everything that I have dreamed,” he said. “And I know that I can accomplish more.”
His advice to anyone questioning whether they can do the same is straightforward:
“Don’t give up. Stay focused on your goal. If I did it, you can do it as well.”
And when it comes to the university that helped him get there, Jemmy leaves little doubt about how he feels:
“I will always be an Owl.”
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