Anniatha McMillan, who is 72 years young, recently enrolled at Robeson Community College to finish what she started years before, despite the tragic circumstances she has faced.

“Never give up, just pursue,” she said in the college’s profile celebrating her resilience. “They will look at you like you lost your mind.”

In 2005, McMillan’s husband died in a car accident that also came close to claiming her life.

“There was an explosion, and I had to be pulled out of the car. They cut the top off, somehow, I made it out alive,” she said.

Dedicated to her faith, McMillan would eventually start a ministry where people could attend church over the phone.

“People criticized it,” McMillan said. “But when COVID broke out, God began to say, ‘I’m changing things, come out of the building,’ and every Sunday, we were faithful to the Lord.”

The ministry’s launch has even allowed McMillan to find love again. She met a farmer from Robeson County, and he is now her husband. McMillan credits this “nice deacon man” for encouraging her to return to school.

“So I thought, maybe I’m not too old, I could still get my degree, and so I made up my mind to go back to school,” McMillan said. She took developmental English classes to strengthen her writing foundation.

McMillan’s instructor Angela Lamb calls her a role model.

“It is important to her to have completion. She’s a good writer and a good thinker. … We are excited to see her move on to the next class, which will be English 111,” she said.

Lamb also shared an excerpt of an essay McMillan penned, titled “Happiness,” which in part reads:

“There are different things that make us happy, such as being alive and well, which gives up an opportunity to smell the flowers along the way, and enjoying the sunshine while having fun at the beach can prove to be a prosperous life. Happiness is an emotional state that presents feelings of joy, fulfillment, contentment, and satisfaction, which enables people to enjoy a prosperous living. For example, happiness is sitting in the sunshine and going to the beach just to enjoy the water. Happiness is going fishing… because it gives a sense of peace and tranquility.”

McMillan said she has met two criteria for her happiness: good health and satisfaction from helping others.

A true inspiration indeed!