She Couldn't Always See the Board, But Never Lost Sight of Her Goal
Every education journey has a story worth telling. Some are straightforward. Many are not. And the ones that aren't — the ones full of detours, pauses, unexpected challenges, and quiet determination — are often the most powerful.
That's exactly why What's Your College Story? exists.
This week we welcomed our very first guest: Isara Witten, a Computer Science student at Fayetteville State University with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. She also happens to be one of the earliest collaborators on the Elikonas platform. And her story? It's one you won't forget.
Who Is Isara?
Isara grew up as an Army brat (in her own words). It's the kind of childhood defined by movement, adaptation, and resilience. She spent three formative years living in Japan between the ages of 10 and 13, an experience that shaped her worldview in ways that still show up in how she thinks and builds today.
Her relationship with technology started early. HTML came first, then C++, Python, and C#. By the time she found her way to Fayetteville State University's Intelligent Systems Laboratory, she was contributing to real AI research — including a project with the Coastal Resiliency Center modeling sea level data. That's not a side project. That's real world application that's making a difference.
But her path to that point wasn't linear. Life happened. She moved. She worked. She paused her education and then — with the same quiet determination that defines everything she's done — she came back to finish what she started.
The Part Nobody Talks About Enough
Isara is legally blind.
She can see enough to navigate the world, recognize faces, and even build sophisticated AI systems. But she does all of it in a higher education environment that was not designed with her in mind.
In our conversation, Isara spoke candidly about what that experience is actually like. About instructors who forget to consider accessibility needs when preparing materials. About the inconsistency of accommodations. Institutions generally try to get it right but don't always follow through. The invisible nature of some disabilities can lead people to assume that because you look fine, you are fine.
She was measured and gracious in how she talked about it. In life, whenever possible, she uses humor to remind people in a gentle way that she can't see what you can see. In a way, it means she can see more than we can.
When asked what she wished more people understood about students with visual impairments, her response signaled the reality she faces every day.
"Disabilities aren't always visible — and accessibility shouldn't require students to fight for it every semester."
Finding Belonging in a Field That Didn't Always Feel Like Home
Like many students in technical fields, Isara experienced imposter syndrome. The feeling that everyone else belongs here and somehow she slipped through.
What helped her find her footing was leadership. Taking on roles at the Intelligent Systems Laboratory under Dr. Padacharya gave her the experience of contributing meaningfully and being someone others looked to. That gave her courage.
It's worth sitting with that for a moment. Belonging in a field often comes not from being told you belong, but from being given the opportunity to contribute. Isara was tasked with leading a group to build something that matters.
What This Means for Elikonas
Isara isn't just a guest on this podcast. She's one of the people building Elikonas from the ground up.
When she talks about the importance of ease of use for learners with busy schedules, she's speaking from experience — both as a student who juggled work, life, and an unconventional path, and as a builder who understands what it takes to make technology genuinely accessible.
When she talks about a platform that recognizes non-traditional learning — one that places Khan Academy alongside university coursework, and one that sees certifications and apprenticeships as equally valid building blocks of an education story — she's describing something she personally needed and didn't have.
That's the foundation Elikonas is being built on. It's a platform shaped by people who lived the problem.
What This Means for You
My question for you is this:
How much of your education story have you been able to tell?
I'm not asking about your GPA, your degree, or your lack of one. I'm asking about your actual story and the detours that taught you things no syllabus could. The skills you built outside of classrooms. The moments you almost quit and didn't. The path that looked nothing like the syllabus and everything like real life.
If you're a working adult who paused your education, Isara's story is for you. If you've ever felt like the system wasn't designed with you in mind, her story is for you. If you've ever learned something important from a YouTube tutorial, a side hustle, or sheer necessity and wondered whether that counts: it counts. And Elikonas is being built to say so.
Watch the Full Episode
Isara's full conversation is available now on YouTube. If her story resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it.
Take our survey! (And share)
Elikonas is currently in development — and we're building it with real learners in mind from day one. Take our short survey and help shape what the platform becomes. Early respondents will get first access when we launch.
Share YOUR College Story
Every week on What's Your College Story?, we sit down with real people and talk about their real education journeys. The winding ones. The interrupted ones. The ones that took longer than expected and meant more because of it.
If you have a story to share, we'd love to feature you — either as a podcast guest or in a written profile right here on the blog. Email us and submit your story, or just let us know that you'd like to chat. We'll either turn that chat into a blog post or schedule you to be on the show. Whatever is most comfortable for you.
The more voices we gather, the stronger the case becomes: education is not a straight line, and why would it be? Those paths are as unique as you are!
— Katie
About What's Your College Story?
What's Your College Story? is a weekly podcast hosted by Katie Stroud, founder of Elikonas, Public Benefit Corporation. Each episode features a real conversation with a real person about their education journey — the detours, the discoveries, and everything in between. The show exists to celebrate non-traditional paths and to build the community that Elikonas will serve. New episodes drop every week. Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Elikonas is a mission-driven platform expanding equitable access to education and workforce development — connecting learners, education providers, and employers in ways that increase opportunity, economic mobility, and skills attainment. Coming soon.