Latecia Gillespie

I am a 51 year old grandmother of 6 who decided to go back to school 10 years after the death of my son. I was in the LVN-RN bridge program at the time of his death and was unable to complete it or go back. After 10 years, he came to me in a dream and asked me to move on. He told me that I was the best mother in the world and it was time to go back to school. I started on my journey in 2007, retaking science courses and other prerequisites before applying to a school. In one summer semester, I attended 3 different colleges to complete my prerequisites so that I can be ready for the Fall bridge program at San Jacinto College. I completed my Associates degree in 2010 and have not stopped. I fear that if I stop, it will be hard for me to return. Along the way, I picked up several of my colleagues and encouraged them to return with me. At first they laughed at me when they saw me taking some TaeKwon- Do classes as part of my prerequisite, but then they jumped on the bandwagon. There has been a total of 8 of us with our ADNs , and 5 BSNs. Another colleague finally started her masters last fall after my many hours, days, and months of encouragement. I have had a total of 7 surgeries, 8 other major hospitalizations, 1 bad car accident, 3 major deaths, several job changes, a marriage, and divorce without stopping school or my teachers being aware. I would take my computer with me wherever I go rather it be to the hospital, ER, urgent care, out of town for funerals, illness, etc. I work hard for my GPA and stay up late to complete my assignments, and live on very little sleep. One of my proudest moment will be to see the Dean of Emory University at my Master's graduation, Dr. Robert Lee. We go a long way back when I was a junior in high school. I was accepted in a minority research apprenticeship program at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO in 1981. He interviewed me and out of thousands of high school applicants only 7 were chosen. I was chosen to succeed and become a doctor, I had many bumps, and bruises along the way but I didn't give up. He doesn't know the struggle that I have been through to get to this point. God has a plan for me and I am still here. At 21 years old, I had a major blood clot in my lungs, with 6 reocurring, a left lobectomy (histoplasmosis), and complications from that. I was told by many doctors that I should not be alive, I remember when a team of doctors came into my room with my first PE (pulmonary embolism) and told me that they find these on an autopsy table-back in 1988. He remembers me and I keep in touch with him, I would be so happy to see him watch me walk across that stage to finally receive my Master's degree and then on to my DNP.