More Than a Degree: How ETAP Is Helping Hollie McMillan Build the Future She Imagined

Editor's Note: This story is third in a UTA Libraries series featuring employees pursuing higher education through UTA's Employee Tuition Assistance Program (ETAP).   
 

When Hollie McMillan talks about earning her master's degree, she rarely starts by talking about career advancement. Instead, she talks about proving something to herself. 

After earning her bachelor's degree from UTA in 2017, Hollie had planned to continue directly into graduate school. Life had other plans, and those goals were put on hold. Years later, working at UTA Libraries and helping students navigate campus every day, the dream never really went away. 

"I felt like I needed to prove myself. Prove that I could do that level of work," Hollie said. "Graduate school was something I always knew I wanted to do." 
 

Today, Hollie is pursuing a master's degree in sociology while working full-time on the Community Engagement team at UTA Libraries. Through UTA's Employee Tuition Affordability Program (ETAP), she has been able to return to the classroom without the financial burden that often keeps employees from pursuing another degree. 

For Hollie, ETAP has done more than help pay for tuition. It has made a lifelong goal attainable. 
 

"It's a really great benefit that UTA has offered me," she said. "It's made the stress of finances so much easier. I'm not worried about how I'm going to pay for classes and I'm really grateful for that." 

As a member of the Community Engagement team, Hollie helps welcome visitors to the library, connects students with campus resources and has taken on responsibilities that include hiring, scheduling, and training student employees. No two days are alike, and that's one of the things she enjoys most. 

"I really love meeting new students, hiring, training and helping them develop professionally," she said. 

Originally, Hollie thought history would be the path to graduate school. After speaking with one of her former professors, she found herself considering sociology instead. It turned out to be exactly where she belonged. 

"I love sociology so much," she said. "It feels like it was the program I should have gone into from the beginning." 

The discipline has given her a deeper understanding of people, communities and the systems that shape everyday life. More importantly, she has carried those lessons into her work at the Libraries. 

"It's taught me to listen more than speak," she said. "Understanding people and really hearing their stories has made me better at my job, better with my student employees and better with the people in my life." 

Returning to graduate school after seven years away from the classroom wasn't without uncertainty. Hollie had never taken a sociology course before enrolling in a graduate program. She also carried memories from childhood, when reading and writing did not come easily. 

"I was scared," she admitted. "I worried that I wasn't good enough and that everyone would realize I didn't belong." 

Instead, she found professors who challenged and encouraged her, classmates who shared ideas rather than competed and a learning environment that was very different from her undergraduate experience. 

Graduate school, she said, became less about memorizing information and more about contributing to conversations, asking questions and growing alongside others. 

"It's a completely different type of learning," she said. "It's so rewarding." 

 
That doesn't mean the journey has been easy. Balancing graduate school with a full-time career, family, friendships and everyday responsibilities has required careful planning and difficult choices. There were moments when she questioned whether she should continue, especially during a semester marked by multiple illnesses and one of the most demanding courses in her program. 

 
"There were many times when I thought about giving up," she said. "But once I got halfway through, I realized I just needed to keep going." 

Along the way, Hollie also learned one of the most valuable lessons of her graduate experience: taking care of herself. 

 
She has become more intentional about managing her time, setting boundaries and recognizing when it's okay to say no. 

 
"My biggest advice is to take care of yourself," she said. "Your emotional, mental and physical health have to be priorities if you're going to work full time and go to school." 

That support has come from many places. Friends constantly remind her of how proud they are. Family steps in when she needs help. Coworkers listen when deadlines become overwhelming and offer encouragement whenever graduate school has felt impossible. She also credits former supervisor Margaret Samson for believing in her and helping shape her professional growth at UTA Libraries.  

Hollie expects to graduate in spring 2027, and she hopes her degree will open doors to leadership opportunities in higher education. More than any specific title, she wants to continue helping people grow, just as others have helped her.  

Looking back, she realizes graduate school has changed more than her résumé. It has changed the way she sees herself. 

"I've realized I'm so much more capable than I ever thought I was," she said. "I'm stronger than I give myself credit for." 

For employees considering taking advantage of ETAP, her advice is simple. 

"Find something you're passionate about," she said. "Don't do it because someone else thinks you should. Do it because it matters to you. Be proud of yourself, because going back to school isn't easy, but you can do it." 

Hollie hopes her own journey reminds others that earning a college degree while balancing work and life is challenging, but entirely possible. 
 
"I think about walking across the stage and knowing all those people are out there cheering for me," she said. "That keeps me going." 

Sometimes all it takes is believing the goal is still within reach and taking the first step.