Georgia woman graduates thanks to a chance encounter with her Uber ride | 98 7 The River iheart.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iheart.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Latonya Young, a 44-year-old single mother of three, received her bachelor’s degree last week, thanks to the incredible generosity of a random passenger she picked up three years ago.
Kevin Esch had just come from an Atlanta United soccer game downtown when he got into her car. “The conversation was easy and felt authentic,” Esch, 45, told The Washington Post. He opened up about his recent divorce, and Young whose marriage ended in 2011 offered advice. During the half-hour ride to Esch’s home, he learned that Young had been an Uber driver for three years, and was working late that night to earn the money for a utility bill. He also found out that Young wanted to be the first member of her family to graduate from college. Although she started taking classes at Georgia State University in 2010, she had to dropped out a year later because she couldn’t pay the tuition.
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies moves to 55 Park Place
Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is moving to a new Downtown location.
In the new location, the Andrew Young School has six and a half allocated floors. The school will share the 55 Park Place building, which used to be the Georgia Pacific Plaza location, with the Robinson College of Business.
“When you walk into the building, there’s a huge atrium. To the left side, there are banks of elevators that go to the Robinson College of Business, and on the right side, there are banks of elevators that take you to the Andrew Young School,” Dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Sally Wallace said.
Credit: Georgia State University Perimeter College
In May 2018, Uber driver Latonya Young’s passenger changed her life. Chatting with Kevin Esch after picking him up from an Atlanta United soccer game, the single mom told him she was driving an Uber to pay off her electric bill, and to save enough money to go back to school. He told her to stop thinking about going back to school and to actually do it. At the end of the 20-minute ride, he gave her a $150 tip to pay off the electric bill – and they took a selfie.
The two kept in touch, a couple of weeks later, Young texted Esch that she tried to register for classes, but the school said she couldn’t enroll until her outstanding balance was paid. Esch responded that he was going to put his money where his mouth is – and remove the obstacle for her. If she wanted to go to school, he wanted to make that happen. On July 2, 2018, Esch texted Young a