This is graduation season for thousands of Georgia college students, and many of metro Atlanta's high school students are receiving diplomas this week. For many, transitioning from high school to college will be seamless. But for others, like Bonnie Johnson, it can be bumpy, leading them to delay college or take time off once they get there.

Johnson earned an associate’s degree and was on the way to completing her bachelor’s degree.

But a series of events, beginning with the birth of her son born with a mild form of cerebral palsy, forced Johnson to put her education on hold. When the baby was born, “I knew I needed to work after the associate’s degree to make money,” she said. “The bachelor’s degree had to wait.”

Emerge, an Atlanta nonprofit organization, is helping women like Johnson whose higher education has been derailed due to hardships.

Read more about Emerge and Bonnie Johnson's story at myAJC.com.

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HBCUs nationally will get $438 million, according to the UNCF, previously known as the United Negro College Fund. Georgia has 10 historically Black colleges and universities. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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