“This is personal for me,” he said. “It’s one of those rare things in life where you get to work for an organization whose mission and vision is so much aligned with your own personal mission.”

Georgia State’s graduation ceremony took place in the Atlanta Braves’ former stadium, bought by the college in 2016 and converted into a football field festooned in royal blue, the school color.

Ms. Jones took her place with others from her graduating class — strangers, mostly, from an array of backgrounds, some with stories that could be the plots of novels. Dulce Arizmendi, 22, earned a business degree even though her mother, the only parent who raised her, was deported to Mexico in her junior year (“Gracias mami,” her cap declared). Abraham Chung, 28, lived in Georgia until he was 5, then moved to South Korea after his father was the victim of an Atlanta jewelry-store robbery. When Mr. Chung returned at age 17, he had forgotten most of his English, and it took him a decade to complete a finance degree.

After Ms. Jones walked across the stage, she could not say what her long-term future might hold: Criminal justice was one of many interests. But she was sure that good things would come, and the data appears to be on her side. According to a 2017 Brookings Institution report, the median income for Georgia State graduates at age 34 is $38,900.

For now, she has landed a part-time job managing a UPS Store, to start later in May. But how will she drive to work without the Jetta?

“I don’t know,” she replied. “But I’m going to figure it out. I’m going to get there.”