My name is Althea Green. Currently, I am a graduate student at Lamar University.  I have four children who are a great encouragement to me.  Family is important to me because when I had my children, most of their grandparents had passed away before they were born.  After having my fourth child and the expense of childcare was not affordable, I quit my full time job to be a stay-at-home mom. With this new career change, my focus was to be there supporting them in their growth and development at home and at school. I helped with homework, supported their activities at school, was available for PTA programs, brought them to music lessons, took them to dance class, and attended every sporting event they were apart of. I taught them to support each other, whether it was at a sporting event, band concert, or school play. I never missed attending and always brought the younger siblings with me to support.  As a result of this, our family today is close knit.  We celebrate everyone’s birthday every year and live close to each other, as well as help to care for my 84 year old father, who is the only living grandparent they have.  After my third child graduated from high school, I decided to pursue my bachelor’s online from Lamar University in Beaumont to prepare me for the later years of my life.  When my kids found out they told me, “Mom, you can do it because you were always there for us throughout school.”

In May 2016, I completed my B.S. in General Studies. Of course my kids were there cheering, because they realized that I had dedicated my time and care to insure they had an opportunity to graduate from high school and attend college.

Completing my goal of getting my bachelors degree was two-fold in purpose. First, it allowed them to see me do what I expect for them to do. Second, it was an occasion that was shared by our family as a whole with my dad there. None of the grandparents or great-grandparents had graduated from high school in our family, so this was the beginning of my current family as a generation of learners that will be equipped with the education to lead in this 21^st century.  My journey to pursue my Master’s degree was also encouraged by them and serves as a personal example to my children that you can accomplish your goals, no matter what age or stage in life you are in.