Brenda Eastman

My name is Brenda Eastman I am an African American female. I left home and dropped out of high school at age 15 got married had three children one son Anthony now 40 years old, two daughters Angela 36, and Pamela 34 separated from my husband after 5 years and single-handedly raised my three children alone. Uneducated living in shotgun houses while working in restaurants during maid service and any type of work I could get to make ends meet. Those were very difficult times in my life; well that enough of the sad story I finally got a job dealing cards at a local casino making decent money and was able to buy a home at age 36, but the fact that I was still uneducated always bother me and stayed in the back of my mind, but I did managed to raise three productive adults. Now all my children are grown and living their own lives so I decided it was my time to do something I always wanted to do go back to school and get a degree. At age 50 I enroll in school to obtain my GED, well that was short-lived because a situation arose and I had to take legal custody of two of my grandchildren a 2 -year girl Tatyanna and a 5- year old boy Kasanova in order to keep them out of foster care, so I had to put my dreams and hopes of going back to school on the back burner a dream deferred Langston Hughes. This is just only part of my struggles, but to make a long story short and to show what dedication and determination can do! Today at age 56, I am not only enrolled in college but have made the Deans List every semester for the last 3 years, have a Merit Page of my own, http://meritpages.com/MISSBE#education, a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, committee chairperson Association of Student Government (ASG), American Heart Association First Aid, CPR, AED and Healthcare Provider certified, and a member of the Honors in action program and running for vice-president just to name a few of my accomplishments. My major is Sociology & Social Welfare minoring in CCD Specialization. My grandchildren are now 16, and 10 years old, I decided that I was not going to let anything or anyone keep me from following my dreams and bettering myself. At this point in my life, I feel that anything is possible there is no stopping me now. My goal is to attend Delta State University to obtain my bachelor's degree, then my master's degree and then start another goal, my future look bright, even though I'm starting late, but better later than never.