There are plenty of reasons why Brandon Mays shouldn’t have earned a master of social work and graduate certificate in alcohol and drug abuse from Wayne State University. He dropped out of high school, grew up in a rough neighborhood, had health problems and even a run-in with the law. But Mays never let any of that stop him. For every reason he shouldn’t have succeeded, he found a reason he should. Mays paved his own path and not only earning his degree, but also took the stage as a commencement speaker at Wayne State’s winter ceremony.

More than 2.5 million Americans have a chronic condition arising in early childhood that can negatively impact their education, job performance and employability well into adulthood.    There is no known cure, and existing treatments are often minimally effective. Yet for those with persistent, developmental stuttering, there is new hope, thanks to groundbreaking research led by scientists at Wayne State University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

When you consider everything Bana Odeh has accomplished during her time as a physical therapy student, it’s hard to imagine she ever had her heart set on any other career. Odeh will graduate in December with a doctor of physical therapy from the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, but in high school, she was leaning toward law — until her mother began experiencing dizzy spells.