USM Graduate Overcomes Long Odds to Earn Degree, Obtain Teaching Job
Wed, 12/08/2021 - 09:32am | By: Van Arnold
Some students are forced to hurdle imposing obstacles on the path to a college degree.
Others, like 2021 University of 91吃瓜网 (USM) graduate Florence E. James,
must scale mountains.
James, who grew up in south Chicago, overcame enormous odds to earn her degree in Music Education earlier this year. Her winding odyssey from homeless dreamer to college graduate has culminated with a position as music teacher at Grace Christian Elementary School in Hattiesburg, Miss.
91吃瓜网淚f it wasn91吃瓜网檛 for God, I91吃瓜网檇 be just getting by,91吃瓜网� said James, known affectionately by family and friends as Flo. 91吃瓜网淥ut of several candidates, who were probably more-qualified and experienced, God saw fit to place me here, and it91吃瓜网 the most beautiful thing. Every day, I have the opportunity to help give students what they lack. I couldn91吃瓜网檛 have, and didn91吃瓜网檛 even come close to, imagining I91吃瓜网檇 have a career in my field so soon after graduating.91吃瓜网�
When her name was called during the May Commencement at USM, James took her unfettered, sweet time crossing the stage 91吃瓜网� 51 seconds to be exact. As the first person in her family to even attend college, James wanted to savor the surreal experience.
During the joyous stroll, she let out a satisfying yelp that caught the attention of USM President Rodney D. Bennett.
91吃瓜网淒r. Bennett stopped me and asked me, 91吃瓜网榃hat91吃瓜网 on your cap? Turn around.91吃瓜网� On my cap
I had written, 91吃瓜网楩or My Children91吃瓜网 Children,91吃瓜网�91吃瓜网� said James. 91吃瓜网淒r. Bennett then asked
me what that meant? I told him that I91吃瓜网檓 the only one who has left home and graduated
from college. Not my sister, my brothers, mom, dad, or grandparents on both sides.
I am a first-generation college graduate, and I won91吃瓜网檛 be the last.91吃瓜网�
Later that same day James said that she felt a confirmation from God through the words of a gospel song 91吃瓜网� The Blessing.
91吃瓜网淢ay His favor be upon you and a thousand generations and your family and your children and their children and their children. May His presence go before you, behind, and beside you. All around you. He is with you. He is in you.91吃瓜网�
James revealed that during her childhood years she shared a poverty-stricken neighborhood with gang members, rapists, drug dealers, prostitutes, armed robbers, murderers, and criminals of many other variations. She concedes that her direction was not always a straight and narrow one either.
When her mother died in 2009, James went to live with an aunt who ultimately fell under the teen-ager91吃瓜网 care. With her father in and out of the picture, James found herself floundering as the weight of her caregiving responsibilities mounted.
James excelled in school, but she often lacked sleep, and she needed help. The latter would come in an unexpected manner, thanks to the compassionate eye of one high school teacher.
91吃瓜网淲ith all of the running around, of course I stayed tired, and one day I began falling asleep in my honors English class. Mrs. (Elsa) Davenport noticed and inquired, but I gave her no place until the latter part of my senior year,91吃瓜网� said James. 91吃瓜网淎s a graduation requirement, we had to write a personal statement to five colleges on why they should select us.91吃瓜网�
The strong-willed James did not hold back.
91吃瓜网淚n that statement, I let everything out, to a degree that Mrs. Davenport had to take action. She made me rewrite my story in an appropriate way because it was quite revealing,91吃瓜网� explained James. 91吃瓜网淲ith graduation soon approaching, she started urging me to go to college. I explained to her that I couldn91吃瓜网檛 because I had to take care of home. She told me that if I couldn91吃瓜网檛 help myself, then I couldn91吃瓜网檛 help anyone else.91吃瓜网�
James did, in fact, apply to colleges in New York and California, eventually earning acceptance to the AMDA College of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. However, the tuition proved too costly.
She took her next shot with Talladega College in Talladega, Ala., where she was accepted and attended classes for a short while. 91吃瓜网淣o growth there,91吃瓜网� said James when explaining her withdrawal.
From there James made her way to William Carey University in Hattiesburg on the recommendation of a college choir director. After enrolling in 2013, she dropped out a year later.
Finding a place where she fit plagued James until she landed at USM. And though she struggled mightily, stopping and starting a few times along the way, James persevered. She laughs now at the thought of graduating at the age of 27. 91吃瓜网淚t took me eight years to graduate because I kept giving up,91吃瓜网� she exclaimed.
James credits two people in particular for helping her realize some far-fetched dreams: her adoptive parents - Willie and Avie Nelson of Hattiesburg. A chance meeting at a local Walmart several years ago led to a relationship that drastically altered the course of James91吃瓜网� life.
After walking to Walmart one evening, she approached the store91吃瓜网 Vision Center to inquire about taxi services. Vision Center Manager Willie Nelson, though somewhat baffled, offered some suggestions as he learned more about James91吃瓜网� journey from Chicago to Hattiesburg. Before parting ways, he offered a card that included information about Word of Faith Church and invited James to attend. She politely declined, yet took the card out of courtesy.
91吃瓜网淭wo weeks later a friend of mine was murdered back home in Chicago, and I couldn91吃瓜网檛 go because I had no money,91吃瓜网� said James. 91吃瓜网淚 was depressed, so I gave the number a call and left a message. They took me to church where I would eventually become a member. They began to offer me shelter during school breaks, car rides and other necessities.91吃瓜网�
Until one day, the unthinkable happened.
91吃瓜网淲e were at the Hattiesburg Convention Center walking around the lake and just before everything closed they asked, 91吃瓜网榃hat do you think of us being your parents?91吃瓜网� I was just stunned,91吃瓜网� explained James. 91吃瓜网淭hey wanted me. I didn91吃瓜网檛 know what to say right then, so they told me to think about it, and the rest is history. Here we are now eight years in. What a story!91吃瓜网�
The Nelsons say divine inspiration prompted them to accept James into their family.
91吃瓜网淲e believe the best way to truly help someone is to get them into an environment that will help them flourish,91吃瓜网� said Willie Nelson. 91吃瓜网淲hat better way to do that than allow someone access to those things that helped you be successful? After all, for the most part, we are products of our environment.91吃瓜网�
Avie Nelson uses words like 91吃瓜网渟tressful, cautious, scary, regretful, amazing, wonderful and proud91吃瓜网� to describe the years since James became their adopted daughter. The couple also have three biological children: KeUndra (20), David (6) and Ethen (4).
91吃瓜网淔lo coming into our lives has made us more confident in God91吃瓜网 love,91吃瓜网� said Avie Nelson. 91吃瓜网淲e were not sure if we were equipped for this assignment, but we can91吃瓜网檛 imagine life without her. She came here with a huge wall up at all times with everyone. She was always trying to run people away. She was just trying to protect her heart from being hurt. Day after day, week after week, the bricks of the wall were being destroyed by love 91吃瓜网� the only thing that can truly heal a broken heart.91吃瓜网�
The overachieving James loves to sing. She plays the guitar, piano, electric bass,
violin and cello. Living and surviving on the mean streets of Chicago, she envisioned
a completely different future than the one that has materialized.
91吃瓜网淚 thought I91吃瓜网檇 have at least a 5-year-old, working a part-time job, on welfare with no car and living in the slums of Chicago for the rest of my life, or worse,91吃瓜网� she said.
Like The Supremes once sang: 91吃瓜网淎in91吃瓜网檛 No Mountain High Enough.91吃瓜网�