As a number of college students prepare for graduation, there’s one future graduate whose story is very inspiring.
Antoinette Davis, 24, will be graduating from State College of Florida in Bradenton on Saturday.
But getting this degree hasn’t been easy.
Since she started school in 2006, she had a little boy, lost her mother and worked overnights full-time to pay their bills.
The single mother says at times she felt like giving up.
“I had my baby and got discouraged a little bit,” said Davis. “I started dropping classes, I was just too tired to do anything. And, I wanted to be there for my son.”
But Davis didn’t give up. She kept studying and kept going to school. That hard work is paying off.
She’s finally getting her degree and will soon take a job as an Occupational Therapy Assistant.
As if Davis wasn’t busy enough trying to get her degree, she’s also been volunteering hundreds of hours to get a new house.
“Fridays, I was never able to understand how she was able to do this, but she would go to school on Friday, work Friday night and then show up here Saturday morning and work through the morning through 12 o'clock to get her hours in,” said Fred Scheerle, the Director of Family Services for Habitat For Humanity Sarasota.
Scheerle, said Davis worked an impressive 300 hours to become eligible for a new Habitat for Humanity home.
Now this summer, she’ll be moving in with her son as well as starting a new job.
“If I can do it anybody can do it, I swear, anybody can do it,” said Davis.
She said she hopes her story will inspire others.
Davis has already been offered a job at an area hospital.
She’ll be graduating from State College of Florida this Saturday, May 5th, 2012 in Bradenton.