Mary Lu Adams has always been someone who embraces challenges, but even she couldn’t have anticipated the obstacles she would face in her pursuit of a new career. Now a graduate student in counseling at West Virginia University, Adams’ journey is marked by resilience, courage, and a determination to finish what she started.
Adams, originally from Wheeling, studied psychology at Bethany College and earned her master’s degree from Pitt before beginning her professional life in higher education. She worked at several institutions, including Wheeling Jesuit University and Georgia Southern University, and also in the nonprofit sector, but ultimately found herself yearning for something different.
“I realized during the pandemic that I needed to be around people, not just working remotely,” Adams says. “I needed to get back closer to what I originally loved doing, which was helping people.”
This realization, paired with a newfound understanding of the counseling profession, sparked her decision to change careers.
“As an undergraduate student, I thought counseling was just listening to people complain all day,” she says with a laugh. “I learned a lot about the field through my own counseling experience and working closely with the campus counselor at Wheeling Jesuit.
“Those experiences, along with reading some books, helped me see that counseling was about much more than just listening – it was about walking alongside people through their challenges.”
Still, in her mid-30s, the decision to return to school was not an easy one.
“It was scary, but I thought, if I’m going to do it, now’s the time,” she explains. “It’s really hard to leave a full-time income, especially to become a student. I am very lucky that I have a wonderful support system—my parents, my boyfriend, my friends. No one tried to talk me out of it. They said it’s going to be difficult, but, you know, I knew that, and I accepted it. I’m always up for a challenge, and I knew it would be worth it in the end. The main goal of this change was to get to a point where I loved what I do and where work doesn’t feel like work.”
With the decision to go back to school made, Adams knew she needed the right program to make her career change meaningful. She found that in WVU's counseling program. “I’ve always admired WVU,” she says. “I’m a lifelong West Virginian, except for a couple of years outside of the state in Georgia. My boyfriend is here–he actually teaches here. So, moving to Morgantown was not a big deal to me. And I had heard great things about the counseling program.” Her initial anxiety about returning to school as a student and being 10 years older than most of the other students in her cohort soon faded and she was thriving in her classes. The courage she’d summoned to pursue this new path would soon be tested on a whole new level. On March 15, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. For many, the diagnosis would have been more than enough reason to stop, or at least pause, their education. Adams, though, was steadfast, facing her diagnosis much like she had her career change—head-on, with determination and grit.“I was determined not to take time off,” she says. “I wanted to finish with the cohort I started with.”
The intensity of the counseling program, which compresses coursework and internships into two years, only heightened the challenge. Yet, Adams found strength in her community.
“The faculty and my cohort were amazing,” she shares. “They were supportive from day one, which made all the difference.”
During classes, she was candid about her experience, even volunteering to role-play scenarios that mirrored her real-life struggles. “It was raw, and I cried several times,” Adams says. “But I wanted to be able to help other people, and maybe give my classmates an experience they wouldn’t otherwise get.”
Her openness not only aided her peers but also underscored her resolve to keep moving forward despite the hardships.
“It was about remembering why I’m doing this,” she explains. “I wanted to finish, and I didn’t want cancer to define me.”
After enduring chemotherapy from April through August, she completed her last session just before the fall semester began. Now, with surgery behind her, she prepares for radiation, determined to keep pace with her studies and complete her degree on schedule in 2025 with a a clear focus on her future.
“Ultimately, I’d love to have my own private practice,” she says. “But I’m also considering working in psycho-oncology, supporting cancer patients and their families, or even continuing in higher education.” Her time as a graduate assistant at the Carruth Center has further opened her eyes to the possibilities within the counseling field and given her the hands-on experience she values greatly.
Adams is focused on what lies ahead, recognizing that her career change and cancer diagnosis are only chapters in her story—formative, but not defining. To many, her determination to continue through these challenges demonstrates extreme toughness, though to Adams, it’s simply part of her approach to life.
“I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to do the hard things,” she says. “And if that makes me courageous, then that’s cool. But mostly, I’m just trying to get through life like anyone else.”