Mother, Vickie Mcbride, and her son, Maurice Mcbride both graduated with a doctorate from Capella University in the United States on the same day.
Vickie Mcbride was a teen mother who had her son Kamau at the age of 13. She stated that she grew up with her adoptive mother who loved her unconditionally but had staunch traditional beliefs about not talking to children about certain realities of life.
She stated that this made her vulnerable to boys and she got pregnant at a tender age. Vickie said as a mother and the daughter of a teacher, raising her son as a teen mother was difficult for her.
Vickie said she persevered with the help of her mother and was determined to continue her education despite the criticism she received.
”Teen pregnancy was shunned and of course, the older people in the community were whispering. As a teenager, I continued my education. That was never an option, I had to figure out how to work and how to parent and how to manage school all at the same time,” she said.
She went on to college and graduate school as well, while raising Maurice and three other children. Maurice on the other hand had his share of adversity growing up.
In their home, punishment for infractions was not intense eventually, Maurice dropped out of high school when he was 16. After he dropped out, he started hanging out with bad company.
Maurice said his group of friends led him into trouble which made them end up in a Juvenile probation facility. He said it was while he was in the facility that he became connected to the word of God.
“I picked up the Bible and I started reading and I was like it all makes sense. I see how it actually comes to fruition. I see how I ended up here,” he said.
After he completed his time in jail, Maurice completed his diploma and pursued a music career while attending classes online. He eventually left the music business, went on to graduate school, and became a professor at Paine College.
“Never in a thousand, million, trillion years did I expect to get my PhD. The thought of becoming a doctor anyone was far-fetched,” he said. The idea for both of them to pursue their doctorate degrees came from Maurice.
He said one day he decided to call his mother and pitched the idea which she initially declined but along the line, she later agreed.
“I said ‘Hey I think I’m gonna get my PhD. You wanna do this with me?’ ‘No that’s OK. You bumped your head, but you can go ahead and you can do it. I’m done with school,’” he recalled his mother saying.
Vickie graduated with a doctorate in K-12 education and Maurice in organizational management at Capella University in the United States.
“I didn’t let my situation define who I was. I defined my situation. I looked at my situation and I told [the] situation this is where we are going and this is what we are doing,” Vickie said.
