STEPHENVILLE, Texas — A rough start instilled unswerving determination in Alyssa Ewell, who will collect her MBA and deliver the 9 a.m. commencement address at Friday’s Tarleton State University graduation ceremonies.

She grew up in the high desert town of Delta, Utah, where harsh realities shaped her tenacity. She had an abusive father with alcohol dependency and spent much of her childhood in extreme poverty, she said. 

“I talk about that. I talk about the fact that those kinds of experiences don’t have to define you. Just getting to college can be a huge struggle for people. I shoplifted my groceries my first three years of college because I didn’t have the money for rent and food. I’m not proud of that, but I did what I did to survive. 

“I don’t think people want to talk about their struggles, they find it embarrassing, and I want everyone to understand that you can come from that kind of background and everything you’ve done is still valid.”

Alyssa knew early on that those formative lessons would stay with her. Then involvement in Future Farmers of America gave her promise and a fresh path.

“The biggest driver of success for me is that I was so involved in FFA in high school,” she said. “I loved agricultural education from the time I attended my first class. I felt tied to the need to tell people about where their food comes from.”

A first-generation college graduate, she earned a degree in agriculture education at Utah State before looking around for a master’s program. She found that and more while working at national FFA in Indianapolis. That’s where she met Russell Ewell.

They married in 2015 and moved to Texas. The couple now make their home near Iredell. Her father-in-law, Frank Ewell, taught agricultural economics at Tarleton for 35 years.

“We’ve always been a very Tarleton-oriented family,” Alyssa said. “We always felt at home here.”

Her ag ed degree began paying dividends when she joined the company started by her brother-in-law. The business is based on a computerized system of scoring FFA competitive events.

“I was a natural fit to join the company because we focus so heavily on ag education. However, I realized that I needed a better understanding of how to run a business. That’s why I proceeded to go for my MBA.”

She earned her MBA completely online. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t forge relationships through her classes.

“So many of the other students who were studying with me were not even in Texas. There was someone who was deployed in China, and one who was in California. Most memorable was that all of us chose Tarleton, even though we have these really varied backgrounds. We got to learn so much about each other.”

The newly awarded Outstanding MBA graduate will detail some of her hard-scrabble upbringing in her commencement address. She wants to reach people, especially young women who need to hear her story.

“So often women’s stories aren’t shared as often as they should be, stories about women who have incredibly difficult backgrounds. We need to talk about the things women have overcome,” she said. 

“To be able to stand on the stage and tell this story and realize that maybe someone in the crowd had an experience like that — it does not have to impact their entire future. They can still do whatever they want.”

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.