Katrena's story

A large portion of who I am… is owed to the Teenage Incentive Program.

I was pregnant and seventeen struggling with low self-esteem

And so far from living the “American Dream”

That’s when God sent me a bird

A bird with a Word!

This bird reminded me that it was not how smart I was but how determined!

This did not mean I was not intelligent, but that if I desired more, I had to have a level of tenacity

An enlightened drive inside of me to envision what others could not or would not see

Birds symbolize the magnificent wings of possibilities

The freedom to fly high

High above and beyond situations and circumstance it’s the freedom to grab another chance.

My bird was Robin, and she was my RN, and later became one of my best friends.

She encouraged me to attend HCC, helped with FAFSA and showed me what to do

And low and behold I was enrolled, and pregnant again with baby number two.

Wow!

That’s when the TIP motto began to ring louder and truer for me

“It’s not how smart you are, but how determined!”

I was determined not to fail. I was determined to excel.

I was determined to dig deep into my well of knowledge

And I graduated from Houston Community College.

Earning my Associates in Liberal Arts was merely my start.

I wanted more…

And long before there was a presidential candidate named Barack Obama

There was my TIP nurse saying Yes You Can! Yes, you can earn your bachelors! Yes, you can be a great Mama!

I wanted to attend Grambling State University, Robin’s alma mater, and she said yes you can!

And when I wanted to give up, she held my hand.

I packed up my two-year-old and four-year-old daughters to relocate

Not just up the street, around the corner, but where we knew no one in an entirely different state.

The Teenage Incentive Program assisted with securing donated furniture for my two-bedroom apartment literally across the street from Grambling State.

I enrolled my four-year-old in Head Start, my two-year-old in day care, and we were on our way.

When I started with T.I.P. I had zero degrees

But the program showed me that I could have so much more!

So today I am proud to say that I ended up with four.

One Associates, Two Bachelors’, and Master of Arts in Teaching

And the very message of this program to my current students and my on children you will hear me preaching!

“It’s not how smart you are, but how determined.”

This is a lifelong lesson worth teaching and definitely learning.

As for my two girls they are leaders and believers

Smart and determined, now twenty and twenty-two

The younger one a junior at Grambling State and the elder a graduate of Howard U!

For all of this, Teenage Incentive Program I earnestly thank you!