“As parents, you are your child’s first teacher.”

A few months ago, God put on my heart to reach out to my parents about how it feels to have ALL eight children with college degrees. This is something that is unheard of in my experience. I did research to see how our odds add up. Even though the high school graduation rate for African American students is almost 90%, the rate for college graduates is drastically lower https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/06/black-high-school-attainment-nearly-on-par-with-national-average.html. According to http://www.research.com, African American make up 11% of college graduates. 3% earn associate degrees, and 2% of African American college graduate earn bachelor degrees.https://research.com/universities-colleges/number-of-college-graduates#:~:text=Black%20or%20African%20American%20students,earn%2013.3%25%20of%20associate%27s%20degrees. 28% of African American children from two parent household graduate from college https://ifstudies.org/blog/less-poverty-less-prison-more-college-what-two-parents-mean-for-black-and-white-children. After reviewing these statistics, I realize that my parents are to be commended for an awesome job well done. Here is my mother’s story on the importance of education and how it feels to have ALL eight of her children graduation from college.

My mother’s name is Homerzell “Zell” Long. She is the youngest out of 18 single births. Being the youngest, my mom stated that she had examples of how to be successful in life and encouraging her how to be the best she can be in all aspects of her life. She grew up in Desoto County and attended Hernando Central from elementary through high school. My mother graduated from high school in 1969 and attended Mississippi Valley State (1969-1971). She was able to attend college with a band scholarship as a majorette (color guard) carrying the state of MS flag. This was the time period of segregation. It wasn’t always easy to carry the flag, being ridiculed for doing it, but she did it for her education. (I need to interview her another time for those stories). Her education was important to her.

Unfortunately, my mother was not able to complete her college education. She and my father got pregnant with my oldest brother, Juan. Even though she wasn’t able to finish her college degree, she maintained her desire to continue learning. She attended community college for various classes. Through working for the City of Tupelo, she was the first to be certified as the economic developer. Education is something that she values, and she made sure that she focused on it with her children. Her reasoning is that education is something that no one can take from you. The desires were for her children were “be your best. Do your best. Don’t settle for a C if you can make a B. Don’t settle for a B if you can make an A….You learn, as a parent, to accept what their abilities are, and you learn to accept them along the way.”

Mom says that having all eight children with degrees “makes me so proud. They made their mom happy.” We could have stopped with high school diplomas, but we didn’t. She is pleased that we excelled from junior college level to the master degree level.

As the executive director of Boys and Girls Club of North MS, they stress learning what is the person’s skills. Whereas education is important, but it goes beyond that. Children need to know “soft skills.” Children need to know “how to be polite, how to dress, how to shake hands, how to look people in the eye, and help make career decisions.” If you know your children, you will learn that not all children have a desire to go to college. Some with get a technical job, and that’s ok. There are some technical jobs that pay more than ones with college degrees. Being a teacher, I know first hand about that. This is why my mother advises parents know their children and what they desire to be in life. Every parent has a dream and a goal that is desired for their child. Some desire for their children to take athletic ability to the professional level, but my mom states “one injury can end all that. Don’t set going professional level as the main goal. Education is the key. Talk to your children what they want. It is their life, not yours. Help them to realize their career path. Let them know to work hard. You can fulfill your dream. You just gotta work at it. You gotta work it. You gotta work it.”

I always ask every person that I interview what advice can you give. My mom said that she’s glad that my siblings and I are out of school because of how things have changed with the way homework is done. She encourages parents “to love your child where they are. If there is help that you can do for them, do it.” On one of the board committees she serves on, they discuss early childhood education. Some of the children aren’t aware of how to use a mouse on the computer. She says “take away the cellphone and take your child to the library” in order for them to be able to successfully pass the entrance test.

Another suggestion is to attend parent-teacher meetings. She knows from first hand how important relationships between parent and the teacher are because she did it. Also, she has two daughters that are teachers (myself and my sister, Shayla). Some parents don’t attend meetings. Mom says “support your child from that standpoint. That way, you will know what’s going on before they bring home a paper or report card. The child is failing, and you want to know what happened. Why didn’t you learn this?” I love the last statement she gave. “Parents are their first teachers. That’s been proven.”