Brian Freeman will complete his UTC Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Leadership after returning to school this year.
Brian Freeman’s 42-year journey toward a degree wasn’t a matter of if, but of when, and he learned that the journey itself matters.
Freeman credits the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s support for helping him reach his upcoming graduation in December 2026. He has spent the past two semesters working toward it through the Leadership and Learning (LEAP) program.
“If it wasn’t for UTC and the support systems—from the IT to the counseling, to the Studio, the writing clinics, math labs—everything is undergirded,” Freeman said. “I mean, it’s not impossible for you to fail, but there are so many safety measures to catch you, and I’ve taken advantage of all that.”
Freeman, an Aramark employee, serves as a sous chef at UTC’s Crossroads Dining Hall. After graduating from high school in 1984, he attended Tennessee State University.
“While there, I found a love for student government, matriculated while there, and got a chance to be a part of what they call TISL, the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature,” Freeman said. “We had access to the state capital. I thought my life dream was to be a politician after being involved with student government.”
While there, Freeman worked at the campus cafeteria.
“I started out in the dish room and slowly worked my way up to scrambling eggs for breakfast,” Freeman recalled.
While working full time and attending TSU, Freeman said grades were never the problem. When his senior year came, the money “called.”
Unable to finish his degree, he had the opportunity to train under a sous chef who prepared food for cruise ships. In the years that followed, he returned to Chattanooga and began cooking around the city, which eventually led him to UTC.
But the thought of returning to school was never far from his mind.
“I would always see graduations and you have this one person that was a senior, 50 or 60 years old, going back and getting their degree,” Freeman said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to go back one day.’ At this time, I already had a family but it was always back there.”
Brian Freeman, in the UTC Crossroads Dining Hall, said the work ethic he learned in the kitchen helped prepare him for his return to attending university.
One daunting obstacle stood in the way of that dream: online classes.
“I put a limitation on myself,” he explained. “I have to be in the classroom. As a chef, you can’t cook with videos. You have to get in there and manipulate the ingredients. That’s how I saw education. I thought, ‘No, I have to go back full time, but how can I do that?’ I would have to quit working and be in a classroom. It would be such a conflict.”
At a homecoming event at TSU, Freeman ran into an old classmate who prompted him to reevaluate his educational path. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Freeman decided to return to school.
The next step was where and how.
Because of proximity and his desire to attend in-person courses, Freeman chose UTC and was surprised by what he learned in the process.
“I left Tennessee State with 121 hours, six hours shy of graduation,” he said. “I didn’t even know I was that close. I applied to UTC and was accepted. All the credits actually applied. They accepted all the credits.”
When deciding on a major, he was introduced to the Applied Leadership (BAS-AL) program through the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies. The program offers flexible online courses, allowing students to balance work and school.
Although there was a learning curve after joining the BAS-AL program in the spring 2026 semester, Freeman was on the Dean’s List in both the spring and summer semesters.
He credits his success to spending a considerable amount of time in the UTC Library and the Library Studio, studying and learning tools like Excel, Adobe and PowerPoint.
Dr. Mike Breakey, an associate professor of practice in the BAS-AL program, said Freeman’s determination to learn stands out.
“Brian has a tremendous drive to succeed, but I think what impresses me even more is his willingness to learn,” Breakey explained. “It would have been very easy for someone returning to college after almost 40 years to become frustrated by the technology, the pace or simply being back in an academic environment. Brian never used any of that as an excuse. If he did not know how to do something, he learned how to do it.”
Freeman drew on years of kitchen lessons to prepare himself for his return to school.
“I use my profession as a chef: you get to experiment, you get to do over, you get to try and throw it away,” he explained. “Applying that to academics, there is a script that you must follow. Same thing with food service. It’s a recipe. If you come off script or change lanes, the results will be different.
“There’s no one to tell you, ‘Hey, time to go to bed or do your homework.’ You are responsible for that totally. That’s been the biggest challenge. I can say that it’s cross-trained me. Let’s get it right the first time, without any shortcuts.”
Brian Freeman sits in the Library Studio, where he has spent many hours studying for courses.
Along with the countless hours spent in the library, Freeman regularly asked questions and met with Breakey, calling it an “open-door policy.”
While LEAP has adult learners returning to school, it also has traditional-age students and student-athletes. Breakey explained that they all share one thing in common in their academic journey.
“What they share is that connection matters,” he said. “Regardless of whether someone is returning to college after 30 years or coming to us directly from a more traditional college experience, we want students to know who we are. And just as importantly, we want to know who they are. We work very intentionally to make LEAP personal.
“That is one reason every LEAP course includes a Zoom-based connecting exercise—not simply to cover course content, but to create space for students and faculty to interact with one another. The flexibility of an online, accelerated program is important, but flexibility alone is not enough. Students also need relationships. They need to know that there are real people on the other side of the screen who are invested in their success.”
Freeman called returning to school and joining the program “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Breakey has had many conversations with Freeman over the past several months, but one stood out.
“I made a comment about life being more about the journey than simply reaching the destination,” he said. “I honestly did not think much about it at the time. Brian did. He has brought that conversation up to me several times since then.
“That tells me something important about him: Brian does not simply complete assignments and move on. He thinks about ideas, connects them to his own life and carries the ones that matter with him.”
For Freeman, the moment he walks across the McKenzie Arena stage will be one he’s waited for nearly 42 years.
“I can’t wait to pat myself on the back and cry and say I did it,” Freeman said. “I was speaking with one instructor and he said, ‘Consider this: You can hang it up on the wall, and friends can come over and take a look at it. Your family can be proud of it. Put stock in your journey. What did it take to get you here? When you’re sitting in that chair, and that person goes up on a stage before you, that is the moment of impact where you can say, I’m here, and I’ve done it.’
“That’s when the reflection will take place. Walking across the stage and then there’s the ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’ the hurrah and the picture taken. At that point right there, I can say, ‘I’ve earned it.’”
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