THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
The hurdles in the way of Mary Davis getting a college education have been plentiful.
A single mother of three, she's barely able to scrape together enough money to support her family, much less pay for tuition, books and other expenses. To make ends meet, she works seven days a week at two jobs.
A lifelong asthmatic with a slight hearing impairment and speech impediment, Davis was struck with lung cancer five years ago. Since then, she has been in and out of the hospital, undergone surgery and endured several bouts of chemotherapy. She still has to rely on oxygen most days to help her breathe; occasionally, she uses a wheelchair when she gets too weak to walk. Her hearing also has deteriorated.
But none of that has stopped Davis, a 36-year-old resident of Norfolk's Norview section, from pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher. Determined to get a degree in special education, Davis has attended classes on her only nights off from work, taken exams from her hospital bed and trudged to her jobs with an oxygen tank strapped around her shoulder.
Inspired by her grace and fierce determination, friends and colleagues have pitched in to help. They've found her financial aid, attended classes for her when she was too ill to take notes, typed papers and tutored her in math, her most difficult subject.
On Sunday, after five long years of struggle, Davis will receive a bachelor's degree in special education - with honors - from Norfolk State University.
It will be a day of jubilation for many who hold the valiant woman dear.
``When I walk across that stage, that's going to be my day,'' Davis said with a wide smile. ``I can't believe I'm finally there.''
Sharon Gardner, a friend of Davis, agreed:
``That's going to be one hallelujah day. We're going to do something big to celebrate.''
An administrator with Norfolk Public Schools, Gardner was a special education teacher at Maury High School seven years ago when she first met Davis, who came to her classroom as a para-professional.
The two women immediately hit it off. Sensing Davis' love for children, Gardner urged her to go back to school and get a teaching degree.
``I looked at her and saw a lot of potential,'' Gardner explained. ``I thought she was someone who would make a good teacher.''
Encouraged by Gardner, Davis enrolled in classes at Norfolk State. Not long afterward, her lungs began giving out.
The diagnosis of lung cancer was shocking, since Davis never has smoked, but not all that unexpected. Both her mother and grandmother died from the disease.
Davis' mother, in fact, had returned to school to become an EKG technician after rearing a family of seven. Not long after receiving her certification, at age 53, she died.
Like her mother, Davis, too, is determined to realize her goal. Undaunted by her gloomy medical prognosis, she continued to work full time as a para-professional in special education at Maury five days a week, and part-time as a clerk at the Navy Exchange three nights a week and on Saturdays and Sundays.
She attended classes the remaining two nights a week. It was a schedule that would have taxed even the most healthy adult. Yet Davis managed to make it most days.
``There have been some days I've really had to push,'' she said. ``But I have perseverance. I always told myself that I could make it. I feel like I've been blessed. I had friends helping me, and God has given me that added strength I needed. It had to have come from him.''
``She's a remarkable person,'' said Gardner, who attended classes for Davis and ferried exams back and forth during her hospitalization. ``She never complains. There's truly something about her spirit that makes you want to help.''
``I was proud to help her,'' said Donna Jones, a secretary at Maury who volunteered to type Davis' term papers. ``She was really determined to become a teacher . . . and it was wonderful to be able to help her. I really admire her.''
Davis' instructors at Norfolk State also realize she is someone ``exceptional.''
``We're real proud of Mary,'' said Sarah Lang, chairwoman of the university's special education department. ``She has just been so determined to fulfill her requirements. She is an excellent role model for students with disabilities to show them that you can go on against all odds and be want you want to be.''
When Davis first enrolled in classes, Lang recommended she take speech therapy to improve her diction. Her speech impediment, Lang recalled, was noticeable.
``She worked very hard to overcome that,'' Lang said. ``Now, you can hardly tell she ever had it.''
The health hurdles, however, have been more difficult to overcome. Davis labors to breathe and has little stamina for climbing school stairs or walking long corridors. She sheepishly admits the future is bleak but brushes aside any dark thoughts.
``I don't expect any sympathy; just empathy,'' she emphasized. ``That's my motto. Because you know, there's always somebody worse off than you are.''
Now that she's graduating, Davis is counting on her lungs holding out for a while longer as she aims for a new goal.
``I just want to teach one semester,'' she said longingly. ``I want to get the feel of my own classroom. There may be a possibility I won't be able to retire as a teacher, but if I can just get the feel of my own classroom, my dream will finally come true.'' MEMO: More graduate profiles/E1
ILLUSTRATION: ``I always told myself that I could make it.''
JIM WALKER
The Virginian-Pilot
Mary Davis, a single mother of three, a lifelong asthmatic with a
slight hearing impairment and speech impediment and a lung cancer
patient, will receive a bachelor's degree in special education -
with honors - from Norfolk State University Sunday.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE GRADUATION by CNB