Four years after the fight of her life, Brittnee Johnson crossed the stage at East Tennessee State University and set her family on a new course.

Johnson started her career like many others: she got an associate degree and entered the workforce. She’d always wanted to go back for a four-year degree, but it wasn’t long before her schedule filled up. With a family and plenty of responsibilities, higher education felt far from doable.

Then, in 2022, everything changed. She was expecting her third child when her health took a turn for the worse.

“I had the flu and then I got pneumonia,” Johnson explained. “My lungs collapsed, and I went septic.”

Johnson was life-flighted out of her home in critical condition. She gave birth to her son, but only had a few short moments awake with him before the doctors placed her on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a last resort form of life support with its own health risks.

“I was on ECMO for 70 days,” Johnson said. “At one point they gave me a 2% chance of living.”

Despite the odds, Johnson recovered and left the hospital with a renewed sense of purpose. She wanted to be there for her family, and believed education would help her to do so.

“Once you’ve started that journey, you want to finish it,” Johnson said. “And now that my kids are here, I want to show them that it’s possible, because one college degree in a family can change a family’s outcome for the rest of its life. It changes its trajectory generationally.”

Johnson started looking at degree options, but her health was still a major concern. In-person classrooms and set class times didn’t work with her intensive rehab schedule.

"My body is compromised now,” Johnson said. “My lungs only have maybe 75% (capacity), and I can easily catch just about anything. So being able to be in an online setting where I don’t have to be around people, but I could still interact with them, that was helpful.”

Knowing that an online program was the right option for her, Johnson needed a school that would accept her previously earned transfer credits. She’d already completed her associate degree and didn’t want to start over.

Johnson found ETSU’s Online Bachelor of Applied Science program. She worked with her academic adviser to build a degree plan centered around new professional skills like research, multimedia presentation, and interdisciplinary design thinking.

“When I actually found ETSU, it was like ‘I’m going to do this,’” Johnson said. “‘I’m going to finish.’”

Starting back can be scary, but Johnson found that her new assignments and deadlines moved along at just the right pace. With a little patience and a lot of determination, she finished class after class. Milestones that seemed impossible flew by, and her drive to succeed kept her on track. Four years after her health scare, Johnson attended graduation in person. She wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

“It was a big moment for me and a big moment for my family and my children,” Johnson said. “And I’m just glad they were there to witness it… They were so excited. They were like ‘Mom, I want to go to college. That looked great!’”

With this major goal accomplished, Johnson is still looking ahead. Next up, she wants a master’s degree from ETSU and to use her experience at a local nonprofit.

“It’s important for our lives to tell a story,” Johnson said. “And there’s no better way to do that than to start a nonprofit and allow the community to be helped out by that.”

Johnson also hopes her story can inspire others to keep learning.

“It’s important for people to know they can do it,” Johnson said. “I went from a 2% chance of life to getting a bachelor’s degree. There’s nothing to lose. Do it now. Don’t wait.”