It had been 15 years since Andrea Krigbaum was a student at Charleston Southern University. Excited and nervous, she returned for her first day of class in 2008, determined this time to finish what she started.
Andrea Krigbaum, shown here in a recent Charleston Southern University theater production, describes CSU as a “great healing place” that enabled her to earn a degree in music 15 years after she initially gave up on her dream of becoming the first family member of her generation to graduate from college.A chance encounter with a college friend on her first day almost rattled her. “In the intervening years, he had graduated, was now ‘Dr.’ Michael Bryant, and was back on campus as a professor,” said Krigbaum.
It was fear that drove Krigbaum to withdraw from college the first time. But finishing her degree was always in the back of her mind. “It became something I didn’t finish. God had to do a work in me so I could trust him,” she said. “I needed self-confidence. God opened doors for me, and he has been there doing a work in me, preparing me.”
On May 8, Krigbaum joined 340 Charleston Southern students for graduation at the North Charleston Coliseum. She earned her degree in music. Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy delivered the commencement speech.
Raised near Spartanburg, Krigbaum was deeply affected when her mother died when she was 8. Thirty years later, she is still guided by scripture her mother quoted to her. “The impact she had on me was a driving force,” said Krigbaum. “It helped center me.” One of her mother’s greatest desires was that her children would graduate from high school.
With that motivation behind her, Krigbaum became the first person in her generation to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Her father, an intelligent, hardworking textile worker, who grew up helping his sharecropper parents, had a sixth-grade education. “We didn’t know what we were doing,” she said about applying for college. She filled out one college application – to Charleston Southern. “We could afford only one,” she said.
In the years after her first college attempt, Krigbaum married and had a daughter. She served as the children’s pastor in her church and taught in the church’s private school. When the school closed, Krigbaum found herself underprepared to enter the job market without a degree. “My pastor’s wife said, maybe you need to go back to school,” she said.
Krigbaum found herself back at Charleston Southern auditioning for the Horton School of Music. “Dr. Valerie Bullock accepted me on a one-semester trial,” she said. “The quality of people here is amazing. It’s selfish to think that God put them all here for me, but that’s the way I feel,” said Krigbaum.
“My professors balanced their musicianship and living a life for Christ,” she said. “I saw that in all my instructors, not just in their craft but in their personage.”
Returning to school wasn’t easy, especially since the seizure medicine she takes causes delays in her brain function. “Memorizing different languages in the music was hard,” said Krigbaum. “But God was patient with me,” she said. She enjoyed the chance to participate in things she missed the first time around in college.
“I had a plum role in ‘Anything Goes,’ ” she said. “My 9-year-old daughter was able to be in the musical with me and thinks I’m a movie star. She interacted with godly young men and women and is determined to go to school here.
“Charleston Southern has been a great healing place for me. Whatever dreams you dreamed may not come true in the way you thought. I’m about to fulfill my dream as I’m approaching 40.”
Krigbaum leaves CSU with a degree and with God-given confidence. “Theology came alive for me,” she said. “To find God in the middle of the classroom, to be transformed by the renewing of my mind – that is profound.”
Ricard Bordas, artist-in-residence in the Horton School of Music, said, “Andrea is very passionate about music – in particular, church music – and loves sharing it. She has studied voice for the last two years, completing her degree by performing a successful senior vocal recital. Also an accomplished pianist, she has achieved her goal and realized her dream with great determination, commitment, humility, open-mindedness and a strong faith. Wherever Andrea goes, her passion will inspire others.”
Krigbaum said, “I joke with my family that I’ve been away from home at college, and now it’s time to go home.” She and her husband are both looking for jobs in the Spartanburg area in order to care for Krigbaum’s aging father. “I’m looking to go into full-time ministry,” she said. “God has a place for me. I’m trusting him.” – CSU