2000 Ecampus Graduates

Delia Costley Jones - BS Liberal Studies

"To tell the truth, I came very close to not being on this earth at all..."

So begins the manuscript for Delia Costley Jones's book "Before I had wings" about her life facing disabilities. Born with cystic fibrosis and only one lung, her birth prepared her for life...she became a fighter, a survivor, an optimist. And this year she became an OSU honors graduate.

Delia claims hers is a "common story"...a difficult divorce, raising children on her own, realizing that she needed her degree to earn a substantial income to support her family. So she set some goals. She completed her AA degree at Central Oregon Community College in 1997 and started OSU distance courses later that year. She took OSU classes in Bend, on the Web and through independent study. "I enjoyed every bit of it," she said, "It was always a positive experience."

While working on her OSU degrees, Delia landed a job at the Alyce Hatch Center for Children with Disabilities in Bend, serving as an interpreter for a support group of Spanish speaking parents. "They see that I can understand disabilities because I was born with one. They are often dealing with a tough prognosis...but I can give them a sense of hope for their children."

And she's created renewed hope of her own. Her manuscript ends: "I have come to recognize that difficult times don't define me, nor limit me, it's simply a question of continuing to live and not letting what I can't do define what I can do. Today, I am a mother, a student graduating summa cum laude with a goal of becoming an attorney. And the sky's the limit!"

Read more about Ecampus students on the Student Profiles page.