My Identity: Defined by Faith, Strength, and Perseverance

My first blog shared a small part of my life, focusing on strength, determination, and encouragement. Growing up, my life did not unfold the way I expected. From birth, I faced struggles, and no one knew what my future would look like. School was especially difficult. I often felt I was not smart enough or as beautiful as my light-skinned family members, and being teased by my siblings deepened those feelings.

In high school and college, I turned to sports and discovered my strength as an athlete. Although I participated in several sports, I excelled in track and field. I later joined the Army, where I experienced harassment and discrimination beginning at Officer Basic Course at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. I have always been bold and outspoken, and some of my classmates did not appreciate that. I felt I had several strikes against me: I was Black, female, educated through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and had earned a combat patch I rightfully deserved.

At my first duty station in Germany, I was assigned to a Military Intelligence Battalion and immediately felt I had to prove myself. While deploying to Hungary and then Bosnia, I learned I was pregnant with twins. My chain of command was unhappy because I was single and pregnant, but I continued balancing motherhood with my responsibilities as a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer.

During that time, something unexpected happened to someone I cared about. I did not know how to handle it, but I kept moving forward. My chain of command seemed determined to see me fail, but I refused to let that happen. I had worked too hard to become an Army officer.

I eventually transitioned to the Reserves in Chicago before completing my three-year commitment. Instead of receiving a compassionate reassignment, I received a general discharge. I fought to have it changed, completed the necessary paperwork, and successfully received an Honorable discharge.

After leaving the Reserves, I returned to school to pursue a master’s degree in criminal justice and security while working as a bus driver for the Chicago Transit Authority. An on-the-job injury required two surgeries and kept me out of work for nearly nine years. During that period, I completed my master’s degree at the University of Phoenix. My daughters and I also faced foreclosure and eviction because I was not receiving the workers’ compensation benefits I was owed.

Still, I refused to give up on myself. Although I received disability pension benefits and had a 30 percent disability rating from Veterans Affairs, I needed to work. When I learned Amazon was hiring in Joliet, Illinois, I applied and was hired. I worked there for four years before being let go because of my sleep apnea, even after completing a commercial driver’s license course the company had paid for.

Determined to find another opportunity, I accepted a dispatcher position with Veterans Affairs and moved my family to Big Spring, Texas, to start over. After five months, I was terminated because of my medical condition. Once again, I kept fighting and later accepted a position as a health benefits assistant with Veterans Affairs.

When the COVID pandemic began, I applied to an online law school and was surprised to be accepted into the FLEX J.D. program at Trinity Law School. While balancing work, school, and caring for my two grandsons, I decided to pause law school and pursue a second master’s degree in negotiations and contracts. I graduated this year and accepted a promotion that brought me to Oregon.

The struggles and setbacks I faced were meant to stop me, but instead, they strengthened me. Every closed door pushed me to find another way forward. Every time someone underestimated me, I learned to believe more deeply in myself and in what God placed inside me. I am not defined by discrimination, medical challenges, job loss, or the times I had to begin again. I am defined by my faith, my determination, and my refusal to give up.

My faith began in my grandmother’s Lutheran church on the far south side of Chicago, and it has carried me through every season of my life. I believe dreams can come true through prayer, faith, and action. Faith without works is dead, so I continue to believe it, live it, and breathe it.

My journey is not over. I am still growing, still achieving, and still becoming the woman God created me to be. If my story leaves you with anything, let it be this: Your circumstances may challenge you, people may doubt you, and life may force you to begin again, but none of that has the power to determine how your story ends. Keep believing. Keep working. Keep moving forward. Your next chapter may be the one that changes everything.