Reese Bianca, Columbus, GA (2026)

05/11/2022

WOW... All I can say is 20 years has flew by. 5/11/2002 Class of 2002.. My final year I found out I was pregnant with Chelsea. I suffered with hyperemesis gravidarum. I didn't take any class or yearbook pictures because I was so sick and miserable. I just wanted to walk across the stage and collect my degree. My first trimester carrying Chelsea was HELL.. Everyday I woke up trying to make it to class on time. In addition to my classes, I still had to complete my internship hours and work all in the same day. It was to the point that it took a toll on me mentally and physically. During that time, I was completing my internship hours at Juvenile Justice and Probation working with at risk female teens. I was teaching them about self esteem, proper etiquette skills and practicing abstinence.. Clearly stating... NO S*X BEFORE MARRIAGE.. When I found out I was pregnant, I hid it from them for about 3 months because I felt embarrassed and ashamed that I wasn't practicing what I was preaching. Me not being married, pregnant and teaching them about abstinence. I felt like I had let them down and the whole Social Work department down. I remember walking into the Social Work program Director's office Carrie Waites telling her that I was dropping out. I told her I couldn’t finish. She looked at me in the face and told me giving up was not an option. The pep talk that she gave me not only empowered me, but it motivated me to push forward and finish out my final semester with a 3.7 GPA. The highest my GPA has ever been the entire time I was in college. I thank God for Mrs. Waites open door policy. I walked across that stage 7 1/2 months pregnant with Chelsea and earned my degree.
Knowledge, confidence, networking skills, and patience are the characteristics my HBCU taught me. I will continue supporting and thanking my university for those experiences that sometimes felt like walking through fire because I came out of it shining bright like a diamond. Here I am…20 years later on the New Campus of Norfolk State University... Thank you NSU for the life learned lessons you have taught me. 🔰🔰