🎓💥 Go Anyway. Learn Anyway. Grow Anyway.

This is written in April. Tis the season for those trying to keep others in their place when it comes to education.

One of the most iconic and teachable moments from a domestic violence story is when Francine Hughes is not allowed to attend school. After her husband beats her black and blue she burns the pages of her textbook over a fire in the backyard. The Burning Bed.

May THE Farrah Fawcett Rest eternally!

Sometimes, the people trying to hold you back won’t be strangers.
They might sit at your dinner table. Ride in your car. Share your bloodline.
And still—they’ll speak fear into your dreams like it’s love.

If you dare to pursue education—whether it’s a trade, certificate, degree, or license—you may hear things like:

💬 “Racist people will teach you bad things anyway.”
📌 That’s real. Racism exists in educational institutions.
But don’t confuse that truth with a reason to stay powerless.
You can confront broken systems and still collect the credentials that help you move through this world with options and authority. Learn how they built it—so you can dismantle and rebuild.

💬 “You’ll just end up with debt.”
📌 Yes, debt is serious. But so is being locked out of opportunities, jobs, leadership roles, and generational wealth.
The answer isn’t to shame education—it’s to fight for justice in how it’s funded and accessed.
Debt is not a moral failure. In a rigged economy, sometimes it’s the only tool left for people who weren’t born with a ladder. 

True story: I got through with scholarships & later financial aid. All the way through I asked my professors if they knew of any scholarships and kept my face known in financial aid office. I wrote essays for scholarships often and joined organizations that offered stipends.

I tested out of Fine Arts. I did not know that regular people could take the same tests that the military service members could.

✅ CLEP (College-Level Examination Program)

• Offered by The College Board (same people behind the SAT).

• You can take CLEP exams to earn college credit without taking the course.

• There are over 30 subject exams—like College Algebra, U.S. History, Psychology, Spanish, etc.

• Each exam is usually 90 minutes, mostly multiple choice.

• Accepted at 2,900+ colleges and universities (you’ll need to check if your school accepts it).

• Costs around $93 per exam—far cheaper than enrolling in a course!

✨ Other “Test-Out” Options (Depending on the School):

1. DSST Exams – originally for military members, now open to civilians too; similar to CLEP.

2. Advanced Placement (AP) – if taken in high school, can count for college credit.

3. Challenge Exams – some colleges let you test out of specific courses with their own in-house exams.

4. Portfolio Assessment – for adult learners: submit work/life experience as a substitute for a course (less common but powerful).

💡 Why this matters:

If you’re someone who already has the knowledge, life experience, or job training, these exams can save you:

• Time

• Money

• Energy
  And they’re especially helpful for working adults, Survivors, single parents, people with disabilities, and first-gen students and others trying to accelerate their path.

 🙂 No expensive course costs. No textbook fees. No gas money. No transportation costs. Thank YOU! 🙂

💬 “I make money without a degree.”
📌 That’s great—and that should always be an option.
But your path is your own.
You don’t need to apologize for wanting more knowledge, more training, more mastery.
Education isn’t always about the paycheck. Sometimes, it’s about freedom. Sometimes it’s about healing. Sometimes it’s about going places no one thought you could.

💬 “You’re just trying to impress white people.”
📌 That’s projection.
Black excellence doesn’t need white approval.
Seeking education isn’t about proving your worth to outsiders—it’s about expanding your own possibilities.
And when we study, achieve, and rise—we don’t do it to fit in. We do it to take up space.

💬 “It’s not even a big deal.”
📌 But it is.
For women, for poor folks, for Black and Brown folks—education has been gatekept, mocked, and denied for generations.
So yes, every GED, license, trade, associate’s degree, and doctorate is a big deal. Especially when you earned it through pain, prayer, and persistence.

True story: I did not start with the big 4 year school. I started at a small 2 year school because I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to major in. The first post high school completed accomplishment for me was a career certificate at Old Dominion University (on the weekends). This was great because it gave me time to consider if it was what I wanted to do. There were years between the certificate and the next degree.

💬 “Bill Gates didn’t finish college.”
📌 And Bill Gates isn’t you.
He didn’t face your obstacles. 
His story is not a blueprint for Survivors, for women, for minorities, for first-generation students, or for those coming out of systems meant to break us.

✊🏾 Here’s the truth:

People often discourage women and minorities from seeking education because an educated woman is harder to control.
An educated Black person is harder to exploit.
An educated Survivor is harder to silence.

So if you want that license, go get it.
If you want that degree, go earn it.
If you want that trade, master it.
You are not selfish. You are not uppity.
You are walking toward power. And that makes some people nervous.

Go anyway. Learn anyway. Grow anyway.
Because the world is different when you have choices. And you deserve choices.

🎓🔥

Be patient with yourself.

It took more time that what I hoped.

True story: I cried to my therapist about the length of time it was taking and I hated that graduation song with all my heart.

BUT, the entire step on the journey was worth it. It grew me. Had I missed any steps I would not be this person. And I admire this person so very much.

It is not just the degrees but because through it all. I believed in me.

I kept believing in me. Though I was tempted more than once, I never completely gave up on myself. I got back up again and again.

I love that for me.

🔥 Affirmation:

I do not owe anyone smallness.
I was not born to shrink for their comfort or dim for their ego.
My ambition is not arrogance.
My education is not betrayal.
My rise is not rebellion—it is restoration.
I am becoming the woman my ancestors dreamed, my enemies feared, and my younger self deserves.
I will learn, grow, and go as far as my spirit dares.
And I will not apologize for it.

🔥 Black Women Didn’t Just Get Here—We Dragged Ourselves Through Fire to Arrive

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