QUESTIONS
“I just want people to know that it’s okay to question your beliefs, and if what you believe is true, then it will still be true when you’re done with your questioning. And if what you believe is not true, then you’ve just learned something really valuable and beautiful about yourself.”
BREAKING CYCLES
“You’re never too old to learn. Because I’m now 52, and I started this when I was 48. I’m grandmother of eight…and in me going to college now, I’m showing my grandchildren that, yes, college is important.”.
BALANCE
“I actually signed up for the Navy the summer after my junior year, so my entire senior year, I knew I was going into the military.”
RECOVERY
“I want my kids to know that no matter what they go through in life, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Twenty, twenty-five years ago, there was no hope. In another semester or two, I’m going to be walking across that graduation stage.”
BREAKING BARRIERS
“I am the first to attend college. I am the first of my immediate family to graduate high school. I mean, I’ve already broken down all the barriers.”
COMING BACK
“If you have a story, and you’re able to explain it and show that you’ve done something, then your grades—I mean they matter, but they don’t.”
THE SMART ONE
“My older sister was the smart one, I was the one with the big heart that cared, and my little sister she was the pretty one. And we were all categorized into these little places and so I always did horrible in school, because I wasn’t the smart one, so I didn’t have to.”