This year, Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS) celebrates 1,484 graduates at Commencement. Students at SCS are lifelong learners, service members, and changemakers—committed to enhancing their work for the greater good.
Each year, their stories reflect resilience, purpose, and the pursuit of meaningful impact. From the motivations that led them to Georgetown to the moments that shaped their academic journeys, SCS students embody what it means to Be Continued.
Michael T. Mack: A Promise Kept, A Mission Continued
“She was born and raised in South Carolina and picked cotton as a kid,” said Michael T. Mack, remembering his mother, who encouraged him to attend college for as long as he can remember.
Now, Mack is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies—just days after his 57th birthday.
Growing up, Mack’s mother wanted him to pursue higher education, but his family could not afford tuition. Two weeks after high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps and took care of his mother. “I promised her that I would always go to college, but I didn’t want her to work two jobs to pay for it,” he said.
Thirty years of active duty service, 10 deployments, two tours, and seven surgeries later, Mack—now a retired USMC Sergeant Major—continues to serve by supporting fellow veterans and wounded warriors.
That mission was born out of his own experience on an assignment in 1987. While driving through the mountains of Yuma, Arizona, a vehicle ran him off the road, causing his car to roll five times. Fellow Marines rushed him to the hospital.
X-rays revealed a fractured spine and a concussion. Within hours, he and his family were flown to a naval hospital in San Diego, where doctors doubted a full recovery. Mack was fitted with a back brace and endured a year of debilitating pain. Shortly after, the Marine Corps began to process Mack out because he was considered disabled at this time.
“I did not want to be a burden to my family, so I pressed to stay in the Marine Corps, and I begged my physical therapist,” Mack recalled. “In those days, they didn't have a wounded warrior regiment; they would medically discharge you.”
Once the brace was removed, Mack passed the mandatory fitness test with a score of 291 out of 300 to stay in the Marines. That moment marked the start of a new chapter, rooted in resilience and advocacy.
He began visiting injured Marines at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and initiated outreach to support wounded warriors. His first moments in this new chapter remain etched in his memory.
“It was so moving to go and pin a medal on a young Marine who lost his leg and give him his Purple Heart, or to visit someone who looked like a Greek god and see that he had no arms and no legs,” he recalled. “His wife saw the expression on my face because it was my first visit. She came over and gave me a hug. That’s when I knew this was what I was meant to do.”
After retiring, he launched Mack Strategic Solutions, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting wounded warriors, veterans, and their families. Since launching this initiative, Mack has spoken as a guest of honor at the Naval Academy, Panasonic Veterans Business Impact Group initiatives, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and the 2025 USMC Wounded Warrior Awards ceremony.
His mission led him to Georgetown to strengthen the skills he needed to grow his business and broaden his impact. He is now the first in his immediate family to earn a college degree, win a 2025 Tropaia Award, and be a member of the Georgetown University Honor Society. He plans to attend graduate school at Louisiana State University in the fall
“This accomplishment for a kid from humble beginnings, who never thought it would happen, and will be 57 when I graduate, is overwhelming and such a blessing,” he said.
Tessa Crews: Creativity, Sustainability, and Transformation
Purpose and belonging are powerful forces that bring the best students to SCS. For Tessa Crews, a graduate student in the Design Management & Communications program, those forces are rooted in creativity, sustainability, and the life-changing experiences that shaped her during her time at Georgetown.
Crews began her SCS journey in 2021 and is the marketing and communications strategist for the University’s Office of Residential Living. She brought a passion for environmental sustainability and sought a program that allowed her to blend creative work with purpose.
In Fall 2023, Crews got engaged, thrilled for a new beginning. A few months later, her father passed away unexpectedly.
“You go from having this excitement about what’s to come to all of this fear and doubt about what’s ahead,” she said. “I wanted to cancel the wedding. I wanted to take a step back from work…How do I navigate life now?”
She planned her father’s celebration of life, wrote his obituary, and spoke with the rabbi who would later officiate her wedding. “Honoring death is important, but it never trumps the celebration of life,” the rabbi told her. One month after the wedding, Crews found out she was pregnant. The changes felt fast and overwhelming, but also transformative.
“Becoming a mother has taught me that I can do anything,” she said.
Rooted in her childhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains and her undergraduate studies in environmental sustainability at the University of Virginia, Crews wanted a graduate program that would integrate her love for nature with creative design. That search led her to Georgetown.
“When I was looking at programs, Georgetown’s stood out because it’s the only fully accredited online design program with a required ethics course,” she said. “Georgetown’s focus on educating the whole person inspired me to apply for a professional role here, and it ended up working out in such an incredible way.”
In March 2023, Georgetown’s Vice President of Sustainability invited Crews to represent the university at a White House forum on climate change. She documented conversations on net-zero emissions, climate-resilient infrastructure, and the role of universities as living laboratories for innovation. Her contributions helped shape the conversation on the future of sustainability in academia and beyond.
“You learn that so many of these really difficult life experiences are actually really expansive,” she reflected. “They teach you the power of what you can do—instead of the smallness of what you can’t.
Samara Demary: Building Representation in Sports
What makes it possible for students to pursue their passion with purpose? For Samara Demary, a graduate of the Sports Industry Management program, it was the University’s mission that drew her in, motivating her to reach her goal of improving representation for women of color in the sports industry.
Demary comes from an athletic family. Her father plays Arena League football, her brother plays basketball at the University of Connecticut, and she spent her youth as a cheerleader and softballer. Inspired by her upbringing, she plans on becoming a sports agent after graduation.“I look forward to becoming a sports agent one day, where I can leave a lasting impact on the industry as a Black woman,” she said.
As the first person in her family to earn a graduate degree, Demary knows the road ahead isn’t without obstacles, and approaches each day with a sense of purpose.
“I want to enter each day doing the right thing—so I’m not only making myself proud, but making God proud,” she said.
Demary is committed to helping future clients feel heard, seen, and supported—values she credits to the ethical foundation of the program. “Being able to teach people how to advocate for themselves is super important to me, and I think that’s what my legacy would embody,” she said.
She also found inspiration from her faculty and classmates, many of whom are seasoned professionals in the industry. “Faculty were supportive and engaging, which can be difficult in a virtual environment, but they created a real sense of connection,” she said.
Looking ahead, Demary plans to attend Georgetown Law and continue her mission as a lifelong learner. “I’m not just getting a degree because it’s a degree,” she said. “I’m getting it because I’m enjoying it."
No matter the background, experience, or inspiration that led them to Georgetown, students at the SCS share one thing in common: a mission to Be Continued.