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Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

Abstract

Statistically speaking, I should have become a lot of things I am not. I grew up homeless (low socio-economic status), lived in battered women shelters (witness to domestic abuse), fatherless (single-parent household), was a father at 16 years old (teen pregnancy), attended six different elementary schools in four different states (California, Texas, Ohio, and Tennessee) by the time I was in fifth grade (student mobility), and was the first in my family to graduate from college (first- generation college student). A quick search on research with regards to any one of these demographics or characteristics will yield statistics on who I should have become. However, the aim of my essay is to share how my experiences in higher education truly transformed my life. Through a whole lot of grit, a loving and hardworking mother, caring professors, and sometimes, what I call “tough love”, I was able to overcome such impediments. It is my hope by sharing my story in this essay, that others, with similar backgrounds, will find hope for a better future, either through higher education, or by other means that directly align with their deepest passion and upmost long-term goals. In addition, and perhaps just importantly, I hope by sharing my story that individuals serving in higher education understand the importance of their leadership and how it can affect the students and/or staff in which they lead and serve.

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