At 33, Shannon Hankinson ’26 is not the typical engineering senior. She is a single mother of two and a former retail leader who made the decision to start over.
Before she ever stepped into a UCF classroom, Shannon Hankinson ’26 was leading teams at a department store, building a stable career and raising her children. It was a life that worked on paper. But something was missing.
So she did something few people in her position can afford to do. She walked away from a steady job, used her savings and went back to school.
Encouraged by someone close to her and driven by a belief that she could do more, Hankinson approached the decision with intention. She began at Eastern Florida State College, completing her general education requirements strategically and affordably, then transferred to UCF to pursue electrical engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
She had a goal from the beginning. Build a future that reflected her ambition. Do it without debt.
That is where philanthropy, specifically support from The Charles Millican Legacy Society, became part of her story.
Through scholarships, including the Charles N. Millican – Johnson Scholarship, Hankinson has been able to focus on her studies, support her family and pursue opportunities that might otherwise have been out of reach. She has not taken out loans. Instead, she has invested her time in research, leadership and hands-on experience that is already shaping a bold future.
“It’s truly life-changing,” she says. “I would have been in so much debt without it.”
This spring, Hankinson graduated with her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, earning Dean’s List or President’s Honor Roll recognition nearly every semester. She is continuing directly into a master’s program in electrical engineering, with plans to pursue a doctorate degree.
Her journey reflects more than academic success. It shows what happens when potential meets opportunity and when investment turns into impact.
At UCF, Hankinson found both.
In a semiconductors course, she connected with Assistant Professor Enxia Zhang, Ph.D., who would become her mentor. That relationship led her to the Radiation Effects and Reliability Laboratory, where she now works as a research assistant.
There, she studies how semiconductor devices perform in extreme environments, testing whether electronics can withstand radiation in space, function reliably in medical settings or operate safely in critical systems. It is complex work with real-world implications, from satellite technology to healthcare innovation.
It is also exactly where she belongs.
“I’ve learned so much, from hardware design and embedded systems to semiconductor reliability,” she says. “We also partner with industry and government organizations, which makes the work incredibly meaningful.”
She has participated in SCALE, a leading workforce development program in the semiconductor field, and gained experience through UCF’s broader partnership ecosystem. This is what UCF’s Go For Launch campaign makes possible. An all-in approach that connects philanthropy, research and industry to accelerate discovery and fuel innovation.
Making her future possible: See Shannon in action [link to photo gallery]
Hankinson is not only preparing for a career in a high-demand field. She is helping advance it.
But ask her what matters most, and the answer is simple.
Her children.
When she decided to return to school, one of her goals was to set an example for them. She wanted them to see that it is never too late to pursue something more.
Recently, her 9-year-old told her he was proud of how hard she works.
“In that moment,” she says, “everything felt worth it.”
Not all of those moments are easy.
Her father passed away just as she began her journey at UCF. He was mechanically gifted, someone who could fix anything. His influence helped guide her toward engineering, and his memory continues to ground her.
She carries that with her, along with the understanding that none of this happened alone.
Every scholarship. Every opportunity. Every door opened through someone else’s decision to invest.
That is the legacy of the Millican Society.
And it is what makes stories like Hankinson’s possible, not just for one student, but for generations of Knights who are ready to take bold steps forward.
Because when you invest in students like Shannon Hankinson, you are accelerating progress, expanding opportunity and helping students like her build what comes next.
