The Huntsville mother of 11 is pursuing a sociology degree while encouraging others to stop making excuses and take the next step.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Christine James did not take the traditional path to college.
She raised a family, followed her husband’s work to Huntsville and spent years pouring herself into children, church, service and home. But after years of wanting to finish her degree, James said one sentence from her daughter helped change the direction of her life.
“You need to stop using kids as excuses to not reach your dreams,” James said.
Now, James is a Sam Houston State University student pursuing a sociology degree, with plans to minor in political science and communications. She is also connected with SHSU’s Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics, better known as LEAP, where she found mentorship, encouragement and new opportunities through Mike Yawn, director of the LEAP Center and a clinical professor at SHSU.
What LEAP means at SHSU
At Sam Houston State University, LEAP stands for the Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics.
The center is designed to connect students with law, education, advocacy and politics through hands-on learning, events and real-world experience, according to SHSU. Its mission is to promote civic leadership skills by providing educational and professional experiences across all disciplines through programming, volunteerism, experiential learning and travel. The center also offers pre-law advising and limited academic advising.
For students like James, LEAP has become more than a campus program. It has been a place to build connections, ask questions and find direction.
James said that support helped her see new possibilities as she returned to college later in life.
A nontraditional student with a full life
James describes herself as a nontraditional student, a phrase that fits her return to college after years of raising a family and building a life outside the classroom.
“Yeah, I guess it is pretty non-traditional,” James said. “My kids are all growing up and I have always wanted to finish my degree.”
James and her husband moved to Huntsville a couple of years ago after following his work. The family quickly grew to love the community, and one of their daughters attends Huntsville High School.
The James family includes 11 children, most of whom have moved out of the home. A few, James said, are still part of the “revolving door experience” that often comes with young adults finding their way.
“We have quite a few children,” James said. “We have 11 and most of them have left the roost.”
James said her oldest child is turning 30 this year and her youngest is turning 17. That season of life has made her college journey different from many students around her, but it has also given her a message for others who wonder whether it is too late to begin again.
James said the family is involved in church, service and now her journey back to school. For her, the decision to return to college was not simple. She questioned whether she could handle the workload mentally and physically. She also wondered whether it was the right financial move.
Still, she decided to move forward.
“I have always wanted to finish my degree,” James said.
Finding direction through LEAP
James connected with Yawn while taking Texas government. As the semester continued, she said she noticed the way he helped students find direction and build connections.
“He was my professor over Texas government,” James said. “As the semester went on, I was just noticing what a great asset he was.”
James said she reached out to Yawn for guidance as she tried to figure out her path. His response, she said, went beyond basic advice.
“He introduced me to people,” James said. “He gave me some opportunities for interviews, for internships, and he just continues to think of me and my little journey.”
That support became part of a broader college experience that James said has helped her grow. She has taken advantage of counseling appointments, tutoring appointments and other campus resources. She said those resources have made a major difference as she learns to navigate college as an older student with family responsibilities.
“When I was younger, I didn’t take advantage of speaking to the counselors there,” James said.
This time, she is doing things differently.
Letting go of excuses
James has given a name to the excuses that once held her back. She calls it “yuking,” an acronym she uses to describe “using kids as excuses.”
“I need to stop yuking all over myself,” James said.
The phrase may be lighthearted, but the message is serious. James said she reached a point where she had to stop allowing fear, family responsibilities or difficult circumstances to keep her from pursuing something meaningful.
She does not pretend life has become easy. During her time at SHSU, James has experienced joyful moments, including a daughter’s wedding and the birth of a grandchild. She has also faced painful family challenges that made it difficult to focus on school.
There were times, she said, when she sat in the library trying to study while serious issues were unfolding in her family.
“Life is going to be hard no matter what,” James said.
That realization became a turning point. James said she had to decide that hard seasons would not stop her from moving forward.
“I’m not yuking anymore,” she said.
A dream that keeps growing
James said her degree plan has changed since she started school, something she joked makes her traditional in at least one way. Her current plan is to earn a sociology degree and minor in political science and communications.
As for the future, James said she is considering teaching.
“I think I’ve decided that I’m going to become a professor,” she said.
She knows that path could take years. She joked that by the time she earns a Ph.D., she could be “60, 61.” She also knows she may take a different route, including teaching online, working in health coaching or building a purpose-driven business.
But James said she no longer sees education only as a way to get a job. She sees it as something that brings purpose and joy.
“It isn’t just about what I’m going to do for work,” James said.
For James, the learning itself matters. She said the knowledge, experience and practice she gains will continue to shape her life.
The goal of 100 nos
One of James’ personal goals is to collect 100 “nos” in a year.
The idea, she said, is to make herself ask for opportunities instead of assuming doors are closed. She set a goal of receiving 25 nos each quarter, but she said that has been harder than expected because many people do not simply reject her.
“Oftentimes, most of the time, people don’t want to tell you no,” James said. “They want to figure out a way to help you.”
Even when she does hear no, James said the response often becomes “not yet,” a counteroffer or another idea to consider.
That mindset led her to pursue opportunities she might have avoided in the past. One of those opportunities became an internship.
“The one job that I for sure thought I would not get, that was a huge goal, I got an internship,” James said.
The process has helped James become more comfortable with rejection and more willing to try.
“I’m going to make people say no,” James said. “I’m going to be okay with it because I get to celebrate.”
A family culture of goals
James said goal-setting has long been important to her family. Each year around New Year’s Day, her family creates bingo boards filled with goals.
The exercise gives each person a visible way to dream, plan and take action.
“It’s been fun to watch my children, my adult children, my non-adult children reach for things that maybe they didn’t think that they would,” James said.
James said the boards can be as simple or as challenging as each person wants. The important part is putting the goal in writing and taking steps toward it.
That same philosophy now guides her own return to school. She is not simply encouraging her children to pursue their dreams. She is modeling it.
What the Holy Health
Along with school and LEAP, James is also working through an idea called What the Holy Health, a faith-centered health concept. She credits her husband with helping come up with the name.
James said she has always been interested in health and what helps people live well. Over time, she said, she began thinking more deeply about how health, faith, family and daily life connect.
“I geek out over health things,” James said.
James said she believes God cares about the body, mind and spirit. She wants to help people think about health in a way that includes energy, joy, family life and faith.
“He wants us to be healthy,” James said. “He wants us to have energy. He wants us to have vibrancy. He wants us to have joy.”
James said she is a coach who helps people work on reversing insulin resistance, but she is still developing the broader vision for What the Holy Health. She described it as a passion project and said people can reach her through ChristineMichelleJames.com.
Faith, family and capacity
Faith is a central part of James’ story. She said her husband has been a steady support, and she credits her Savior with helping her through difficult seasons.
James said people who feel a nudge to do something good should pray for the capacity to take the next step.
“If you feel that nudge, I think because it’s a good thing,” James said. “Any good thing that you do is, I feel, from God.”
Her encouragement to others is not that life will suddenly become easy. Instead, she said people should expect hard things but refuse to let hardship become the reason they stop.
“Don’t let your hard be the hard that stops you,” James said.
For the person who believes it is too late to return to school, chase a dream or take a new step, James’ message is simple: stop making excuses, ask for help, use the resources in front of you and do not be afraid of hearing no.
Her story also carries a message for people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. James did not begin this chapter with a quiet calendar or an easy path. She began it as a wife, mother and grandmother with real responsibilities, real challenges and a full life already behind her.
For James, LEAP, SHSU, family and faith have all become part of a new chapter.
And she is still writing it.
More information about SHSU’s Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics is available at shsu.edu/offices-departments/leap/.