THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505090089
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TONYA WOODS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
IT'S 9:15 ON A MONDAY morning in Frederic L. Ugarte's sociology class at the TCC-Norfolk Center. The topic for the day is lynchings.
Midway through the class the discussion swerves from lynchings to capital punishment, and a heated discussion breaks out.
``I believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,'' says one student.
``We don't have the right to take someone else's life because they kill somebody. Two wrongs don't make a right,'' says another student.
Devina George, a Virginia Beach resident, sits in the front row listening attentively and hardly saying a word. But her silence doesn't mean she has no opinion.
After class in a more private setting, she's more at ease. Just as lynchings were wrong in the South half a century ago, she says, capital punishment today is just as bad.
``We always have good discussions in that class,'' she said. ``The things we talk about in there can always be related to something going on in the world. That's what makes the class so interesting.''
Since she began taking classes at the TCC-Norfolk Center in spring 1994, George, 49, says she has come to look at life differently.
``It's never too late to do anything,'' she says. ``And if you set your mind to it you can do whatever you want to do.''
Devina George is living proof of that. She runs a small catering business while rearing six of her nine children and four nephews.
But that's not all. With a full class load of 19 credits (six classes), George is in class as early as 8 a.m. and stays as late as 10 p.m. some nights. And she still maintains a grade point average of 3.0 or better.
She says riding the bus from Virginia Beach to class in Norfolk every day gives her extra studying time.
``It gets hard sometimes, but I love every minute of it,'' she said. ``Some nights my children and I do our homework together. But I'll admit there have been times when I've wanted to walk out of a class or just give up.''
She hasn't given up. And she says she won't. Even though going back to school after nearly 25 years has been a tremendous challenge, George has overcome obstacles more difficult than that.
``A couple of years ago I was going through a lot,'' she said.
Hard times began in Richmond in 1992. Separated from her husband of 16 years, Devina George was taking care of her then eight children. She worked as a chef for $13.20 an hour.
When the restaurant was taken over by new management, George lost her job. With no steady income, she sent her children to live with her aunt in Virginia Beach. Less than a year later her husband died.
George stayed in Richmond and got another job as a chef making $8 an hour and working fewer hours.
She says trying to save enough money to reunite with her children wasn't easy.
``I had to live. I couldn't just take all my money and save it, because I had to live off of it.''
Eventually, she quit her job and came to Virginia Beach to be with her children. But her aunt didn't welcome her with open arms.
``She wanted me to pay to live with her,'' George recalls. ``And I was trying to save money to get a place of my own for me and my kids.''
She also was pregnant with her ninth child.
``I was homeless for about two months,'' she said. ``I lived on the streets so I could hold on to what little money I had.'' She wasn't able to get any prenatal care until six months into her pregnancy.
After nearly a four-month separation from her children she was reunited with them in January 1993.
Securing a home, bringing her family back together, and creating a better life was not easy. Her children have been her rock of determination.
``I kept thinking to myself, `If I give up, who's going to keep my kids?' '' she said.
So when her baby daughter, Marche, was just 2 weeks old, George contemplated returning to school.
``I felt I had to do something with myself,'' she said. ``So when I found out about TCC-Norfolk, I decided to go back to school. I figured if I do something with my life, maybe it'll inspire my children to do the same.''
In January 1994, George took a placement test at the TCC-Norfolk Center. Because she didn't have a baby sitter, she took 6-week-old Marche with her.
``I didn't know what I was thinking by bringing her in there with me, but I had a lot on my mind,'' she said.
``The first thing they told me was that I couldn't have her in there during the test,'' she recalled. ``At that point, I was ready to give up.''
She was told that she would have to reschedule for another testing time.
Then as she was about to leave the center, Cheryl Creagar, director of student services, came up with an idea.
``There was this look in her eyes that I couldn't put my finger on,'' Creagar said. ``I knew I didn't want to see her leave because I was afraid she wouldn't come back.''
So Creagar made a makeshift crib out of an empty cardboard box and lined it with the baby's blankets. Once the child was settled, Creagar told George she could take the test under one condition.
``She told me if Marche made one sound, we would have to leave,'' George said.
For nearly three hours Marche was as quiet as everyone who was taking the test.
``That baby was so quiet, she was like a little angel,'' Creagar said.
Thus began George's education pursuit at the TCC-Norfolk Center.
She signed up for classes including philosophy, statistics and biology. She qualified for a Pell Grant, which covered her tuition and she was able to get a book voucher to purchase textbooks.
George plans to graduate from the TCC-Norfolk Center next year with an associate's degree in education, then enroll at Norfolk State University or Virginia Wesleyan University to pursue a bachelor's degree in education. She would like to teach middle school.
Marion Wall, an academic adviser at the center, said Devina George stands out as a student and as a person.
``She's a very humane woman,'' she said. ``I've been in her home and the way she has her children organized is outstanding, especially with her being in school.''
George is a unique blend of student and woman, sociology instructor Terri Bernard said.
``She combines a full family life with being a good student,'' she said. ``I don't know whether or not it's all of her life experiences, but she possesses a tremendous amount of insight.''
As one of Bernard's students last semester, George left a lasting impression on the instructor.
When the class was assigned to bring in newspaper articles relating to concepts dealing with racism, George turned in an advertisement for dolls. The ad featured white dolls on display while all the black dolls were in boxes in the back of the display.
``This was her example of institutionalized racism,'' Bernard said. ``She backed it up by saying when African-American children see the dolls that resemble them in the back they automatically start believing they are second best.
``When a student is able to perceive something like that on her own, it really grabs a teacher by surprise.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover] [Color Photo]
Staff photo by BETH BERGMAN
Devina George, surrounded by her children and other relatives, has a
large family to take care of and to give her support, too.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Devina George, on the TCC Chesapeake campus, took six classes during
the spring semester.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Devina George rides a TRT bus from Virginia Beach to Norfolk and
other TCC campuses every day to attend classes.
Staff photo by BETH BERGMAN
With a couple of fellow students watching over her shoulder, Devina
George spends some time at a terminal in the TCC Norfolk computer
lab.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Before catching the bus for class, Devina George gets a kiss from
her 23-month-old daughter, Marche, who was six weeks old when her
mother went back to college.
by CNB