|
|
|
|
|
Spring, 2008
Volume II Issue 1 copyright by College
Mom Magazine and Katherine Arnoldi.
All illustrations on this site are by Katherine Arnoldi. |
Contact Us :
info@collegemom
magazine.com |
We'd love to hear
from you! Tell us about your college experiences.
|
Click on images
to go
to the next page! |
| |
| |
| |
|
 |
|
Melanie Knight: Gradute of the University
of South Carolina |
"I
had always known that college would deliver me from a life of
poverty, but
I didn't know how I'd ever get there." |
------Melanie
Knight
| |
|
"after
you get socially sucker punched one too many times, you learn to bob
and weave" |
|
------Melanie
Knight |
| |
|
College
Mom
|
MelanieKnight
|
|
Tells Us
How She Became a Successful College Graduate |
|
 I was an honor student, varsity cheerleader, in student government
and in yearbook when I found out I was pregnant at 17.
My high school dropped me like a hot potato, and said that if
I wasn't so close to graduating, they would have advised me to
drop out. It was the lowest point in my life and it
felt like the universe took pleasure in grinding salt into my
already raw and open emotional wounds.
But after you get socially sucker punched one too many times,
you learn to bob and weave. I am not an ordinary person
because I have lived an extra-ordinary life.
|
|
My baby was
born prematurely and weighed 2 lbs. 2 oz. He was
hospitalized for 3 months. At 18, I had to endure the silent
and consuming agony of waiting for my child to come home and
not truly knowing if he ever would -something most parents will
never experience.
I had always known that college would
deliver me from a life of poverty, but I didn't know how I'd
ever get there now.
But I did get there.
I was a stay at home mom after being pressured into marrying
my son's father. My son couldn't go to daycare because
he was so premature; the slightest cold could land him in the
hospital. Believe me, I tried it anyway when I enrolled
at a tech school at age 19 and he had pneumonia within 2 weeks
and was hospitalized. I waited until he was 4 years old
before I tried it again.
|
When
I enrolled at Autin Peay State University on
Tennessee in 1996, I was 22 and life started to turn around.
I joined a sorority, Alpha Delta Pi, and was the only
married member with a child (at that chapter). I took 18-19
credits/semester and had a part-time job 35 hrs/wk.
Once I saw that my sorority sisters didn't judge
me like strangers and even extended family did, I started to
value myself again. Teen mom or not, I was a good person
who took a genuine interest in the lives of people around me.
Once I valued myself, I noticed how broken my marriage was and
the violent direction it was headed. I got out as fast
as I could. If nothing else, that marriage taught me to
say "no". No- you can't talk to me that way,
No-I am not a doormat, No-don't ever put your hands on me again. |
| I graduated
from the University of South Carolina in 2001. I
had to wait tables at night and sleep on a small mattress on
the floor in my mother's living room for almost 2 years through
my separation and divorce, but it was worth every sacrifice.
My first job post graduation lasted 1 year and I was offered
a 40% pay increase at the same company in a new position in a
different division. My HR manager said she had never
seen anything like it in her entire HR career. |
|
 Like
I said, I am smarter than the average bear. If there is
an exception to the rules, I am it every time. If someone
is going to win, it's going to be me. Today,
I still have a corporate job- although I am pursuing an internet
media career on the side. My baby boy is now 15
with a learner's permit and I have a 2 yr old son. Now
that I can look back at how hard things were, and knowing what
I know now, I am still trying to help that 17 yr old scared little
me. I am working
with my local high school guidance counselors and state agencies to develop
an information packet for any teen at the local high school who
finds herself pregnant- something that will inspire her to stay
on track and pursue higher education.
I will give this generation of young mothers what I wish someone
had given me- hope.
------------------------------------------------Melanie
Knight
|
 |
Go to: Home
|
|
