Myshell Thomas came to MiraCosta College filled with fear and unsure she could succeed in her college classes after spending more than four years living with homelessness and substance abuse.
With a fresh mindset and the support of MiraCosta College counselors and professors, Thomas turned her life around. She excelled in her classes with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, was selected as a Medal of Academic Merit scholar, and will be the student speaker at MiraCosta College’s commencement.
“I severely underestimated my own ability,” Thomas said. “I have an exceptionally strong work ethic and an extreme fear of failure.”
Thomas grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and realized that she did not identify with the gender she was assigned at birth. When she was 34, she moved to San Diego to affirm her gender. Lacking many resources, she became homeless and lived on the street. The hardships she suffered contributed to substance abuse issues.
She got sober through a drug rehabilitation program and was able to find affordable housing in Vista. Thomas realized she needed to get an education, even though she had dropped out of high school.
She started at MiraCosta College in Fall 2021, and credited Counselor Sarah Gross with helping her line up her classes toward her career goal of becoming a social worker. Thomas is in MiraCosta College’s honors program and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the community college honors society.
Thomas was president of the Gender Sexuality Alliance, which supports LGBTQIA+ students on campus, and was a student worker at MiraCosta’s Student Equity Office, focusing on the SPHERE program that supports LGBTQIA+ students. She is currently working as a coordinator at the North County LGBTQ Resource Center.
When she graduates from MiraCosta College, Thomas will be transferring to Arizona State University, where she plans to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She hopes to help others, as she was supported when she was living on the streets.
“My goal is to give back to society by doing the same kind of work and to see if I can improve on that system,” she said.