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For most college students, walking across the state at graduation is joyous. For Julia Hannigan '25, it was monumental.

Five years ago, during the height of COVID-19, Julia broke her foot. That event started a chain reaction that changed her life.

The broken foot required surgery, and the recovery included wearing a walking boot. The awkward imbalance caused Julia to throw her back out. Things went from bad to worse quickly.

"I started losing feeling in my feet. I could not walk for seven months," she recalls. In June 2020, she had her first back surgery and was sent to a nursing home for rehab. While there, yet another medical emergency happened — her body was producing so much calcium that she was at risk for having a heart attack, and it was also contributing to the problems in her back. And, less than three weeks after the back surgery, her mother passed away. Life felt grim and almost hopeless.

"I wasn't doing well with physical therapy. The physical therapist at the nursing home tried to tell me I wasn't going to walk again," Julia says. She consulted her doctor, who agreed: Julia wasn't going to accept that fate without getting a diagnosis.

"He said, 'I won't give up if you don't give up.' I told him, "If I give up, my mom's going to come back and haunt both of us," Julia says with a wry laugh. The doctor ordered more tests, the results of which were inconclusive, so she was sent to a neurologist and other specialists. Eventually, an endocrinologist determined she needed parathyroid surgery. Julia didn't hesitate — she wanted answers, and she was hopeful the surgery might be successful. That's when things slowly began to look up, though there were more setbacks to come.

After the surgery, I started to feel like I could actually stand and feel my legs. I was begging for more physical therapy. I wasn't very outspoken at the time, but it made me say the things I needed to say. I thought about my mom a lot. She would be telling me to keep going. So for me, there was never an option to give up.

The nursing home, however, did not share Julia's optimism. When an MRI showed she had spinal stenosis between her shoulder blades, the facility said they could keep her for another 45 days but refused to do any more PT. Even worse, they stopped allowing her to do anything independently.

That was the final straw for Julia, who decided to go home. Just two weeks later, she was taking her first steps.

She had her second back surgery in early 2021, followed by more therapy at an acute rehab center. When she was able to take more steps, she went back to work as a dog trainer, using a walker. Despite her best efforts, her employer forced her to step down to a lesser position. Even with assistance from MassAbility, a government program that helps people with disabilities find or keep their jobs, it was a turning into a dead end. Refusing to give up on herself, Julia kept her job for the time being but decided it was time to go back to school.

"I hadn't been to school in over 20 years," says Julia, who had previously earned an associate degree in video production. "I knew I couldn't do physical labor. I needed a sit-down job."

The MassAbility counselor helped Julia identify accounting as a possible career path and suggested she apply to UMass. "I didn't want to be overwhelmed going to a large school, so I asked if it was possible to go to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. I needed to get my footing back," she says. Her plan, at first, was to take a couple classes at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and transfer to UMass. But just as she was starting at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø in 2022, she found she needed two knee replacements.

With that diagnosis, in-person classes were out of the question, but ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø provided online options. She declared a business administration major, committed to finishing an associate degree at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, and began taking classes with Associate Professor of Business Karen Hines, finally meeting her for an in-person management class in 2024. Ironically, the subject matter in that class — combined with her work-study program at Paterson Field House — made Julia realize she needed to get out of her toxic work environment at the dog training business.

"I figured out that my manager was not the manager I wanted to work for," she says. And, the professionalism and care shown by Director of Recreational Services Daryl Shreve, who oversaw the work-study program, only underscored that realization.

"The kind way Daryl was treating me made me realize how badly my manager was treating me. I couldn't stay any longer," Julia says. Professor Hines suggested banking, specifically with Greylock Federal Credit Union. At first, Julia landed an internship with Adams Community Bank, which she enjoyed, but the retail side of banking did not click with her. She applied for a job at Greylock, and while she did not get her first-choice position, she was hired. For the first time in a long time, Julia felt like she was valued in the workplace.

In the midst of all these positive developments, however, Julia was still struggling with PT. Once again, a physical therapist told her she wasn't likely to walk, at least not without using a walker, and recommended that she use her wheelchair more.

"I said, 'No, I'm not doing that. I'm too young. I know I can do this.' So, I parted ways with her. I needed more positive people in my life," Julia says. Upon the recommendation of a friend, she began treatment in Dalton in 2023 with a therapist named Robert Paduano. Finally, she got the encouragement and positivity she was looking for.

"He pushed me, and when I said I couldn't do something, he broke it down into smaller parts," Julia says. She needed a goal, something tangible to work towards, so she hatched a plan and shared it with Robert: She wanted to walk across the stage at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø commencement exercises with no assistance.

"I eventually realized I needed to modify that goal, but I told Robert, 'As long as it's a version of my ultimate goal, I'm ok with it.' We started talking about walking across the stage with just a cane."

Two years later, that dream became a reality. With the help of one of her best friends, who walked beside her for support, Julia crossed the stage in May 2025 using only a cane. It was a well-coordinated plan, kept secret from most of her close friends, family and teachers.

On graduation day, Julia told Professor Hines she had a surprise for her.

"I had my cane hiding in a corner of the stage. I walked up behind Karen [Hines] and handed off my crutches when she wasn't looking. I could tell by the look on her face that she was shocked," Julia says. She walked slowly across the stage, her hand hovering over her friend's shoulder but not quite touching. She was concentrating hard, so hard that at first she did not notice people were beginning to stand. One by one, students, faculty members and friends began standing and cheering. So did four special people in the audience — Robert, her physical therapist; her boss, Greylock VP of Retail Member Services Stephanie Carlson; Greylock CFO Jamie Moncecchi; and Greylock Senior VP of Retail Services Robert Sims.

I couldn't believe this was actually happening. I had to keep concentrating to get across the stage, because I knew if I started crying, I wouldn't be able to walk.

Julia credits the support of her friends and colleagues for getting through the most difficult years of her life, and she praises ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø for seeing her though some of her most challenging times and for providing the foundation for her career. Now majoring in interdisciplinary studies at UMass while working at Greylock, Julia has set another goal.

"When I graduate in three years, I want to walk across the stage with nothing at all, or at least with just a service dog," Julia says. She hopes to have that service dog within two or three years, and she also has dreams of buying a house. But for now, Julia savors every victory, literally one step at a time.

"I believed I could do it, and I did it," she says. "That's exactly what I wrote on my graduation cap."