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VIDEO: My Mom Overcame Her Drug Addiction and Gave Me a Chance at a Real Education

Oct 25, 2017 12:00:00 AM

by Vesia Wilson-Hawkins

I grew up in a home with my mom and two younger siblings. My mother spent most of my childhood in the throes of drugs and alcohol addiction, creating a situation where I had to care for my siblings. But something happened that would change the trajectory of my future. She got clean the summer before my senior year. For the first time, my mother was present. And surprisingly, her presence made all the difference in my life. Suddenly, I went from going to school just to get out of the house to going to school to actually get an education. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baODMTnHNls But it was almost too late. I was a senior. Prior to my senior year, I produced just enough work to keep from flunking out completely. A terrible student, school was not on my top-three list of things that really mattered. My first priorities were my brother and sister and then my mom. Oh, and I also self-medicated with boys and booze. I spent a lot of time making bad decisions and suffering the consequences. But in August 1988, I entered my high school a new girl. I allowed myself to be a 17-year-old girl as well as a student, a cheerleader, a member of the French and Business clubs, and president of the Afro-American history club. Actually, my mother’s courage and strength to battle her demons allowed me to be me. That's the power of an engaged parent in the life of a child. To this day, my allegiance is to families who, in the face of poverty and societal ills, fight to beat the odds using every weapon available to them. I will stand, scream and battle alongside these families until the day I die because I know the victory that awaits them.

Vesia Wilson-Hawkins

Vesia Wilson-Hawkins is a former Metro Nashville Public Schools student, parent and staffer. She is a staunch advocate for better public school options, particularly for the Black community in her hometown. She doesn’t care if that school is run through a charter or is managed by the district, as long as it is providing a good option for the families who for too long have been underserved. With her background in the education sector, Vesia also keeps a watchful eye on Tennessee’s efforts to provide equitable education and accountability to low-income kids and students of color, especially as the state complies with the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Vesia blogs about all this and more at Volume and Light Nashville.

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