CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 42-year-old single mother is proving that it's never too late to chase educational goals, despite several personal and health obstacles.
Eyewitness news anchor Stephanie Maxwell learned how a local scholarship program is making it possible for mothers to get college degrees.
Studying is part of Kym Davidson's normal balancing act.
She has a full-time job and is a single mother to two teenage daughters and a grandson, all while battling cancer.
“It's a form of thyroid cancer. This is my second bout with it. I did have it in 2010,” Davis said.
During that first diagnosis, Davis said she had to make a tough decision.
She walked away from a relationship after she said a man choked her in front of her daughters.
She decided to re-enroll at Johnson C. Smith University in 2012, taking classes at night as a full-time student to finish what she started as a traditional student in 1993.
Even with the tough schedule, she made the dean’s list.
Davis will walk across the stage on Sunday and get her diploma.
“She is a survivor. She’s a cancer survivor and domestic violence survivor. She has gone over, under, around or through to make it happen,” said Susan Andersen, the founder and executive director of ANSWER, a scholarship for working mothers who want to go to college.
Andersen helped make it happen for Davis. And Davis received about $3,000 a year toward her tuition from ANSWER.
Since 2006, ANSWER has awarded scholarships to 46 working mothers who are pursuing degrees.
“The majority of them are doing great. Many of them, surprisingly enough, have gone on to pursue master's degrees,” Andersen said.
And so will Davis, who plans to be a certified police investigator. She wants to keep setting a good example for her family.
“I just stay positive. That’s all I can do. Keep smiling. Find the joy in everything and just keep going. There's no point stopping,” Davis said.
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