Jennifer Hilderbrand heard the doubters.

People wondered if Hilderbrand really would earn a college degree. They weren’t shy about sharing those thoughts, either.

After all, she had followed in her father’s footsteps, joining the military right out of high school. While stationed in South Carolina as a member of the Air Force, she met her future husband.

Now with two young children and six years in the military that included a deployment in Iraq and a move to Arkansas for her husband’s job, some questioned whether Hilderbrand would ever get a degree.

This month, she’ll give the answer.

“I had so many people tell me I was not going to do it; I’m not going to do it,” Hilderbrand said. “And here I am graduating in December.”

Hilderbrand, 30, of Benton, is part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock graduating fall semester class that will be honored during the Saturday, Dec. 19, commencement ceremony starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.

A math major and STEM education minor, Hilderbrand has a job lined up teaching mathematics at eStem High School, where she’s already employed after serving as a student teacher.

Rather than hinder her studies, Hilderbrand said her military experience gave her focus and had a positive effect on her grades.

“It taught me to persevere through trying times,” Hilderbrand said.

The UALRTeach program also played a critical role in her success.

Kelly Chaney, who has been a master teacher for the program since it began in 2012, had a particularly strong influence on Hilderbrand.

Chaney created a sense of family for Hilderbrand, a place to call home at UALR. Although Chaney was her professor, she also was a mentor and adviser. She almost became a “mother figure” for Hilderbrand, who didn’t have deep ties to Arkansas or UALR.

“I don’t think I would have stayed if it weren’t for her,” Hilderbrand said.

The UALRTeach program, which is designed to strengthen STEM education in the state, was like its own community, Hilderbrand said. There were numerous collaborations, as math and science majors worked together in core and and minor courses.

Hilderbrand, who served as president of Pi Sigma, said she made numerous lifelong friends through UALRTeach.

“It was a family,” Hilderbrand said. “It made it feel like home.”

“I met a lot of good people, and I don’t think I would trade it for anything.”

Hilderbrand will be licensed to teach seventh- through 12th-grade math courses, and although she’s graduating and has a post-graduation job, she expects to return to the UALR campus soon.

eStem announced plans to move its high school to the UALR campus, starting in 2017.

“I find it interesting that I can’t quite get away from UALR,” Hilderbrand joked. “I think it’ll be great for our students here.”

Hilderbrand is getting the degree. She has the job. And thanks to her time at UALR and the UALRTeach program, she found friends she plans to stay in touch with the rest of her life.

“I can’t be more blessed.”