tanjanika Rollins

I would say my children, because they pushed me when I didn't want to be pushed. They pushed me, you know, they didn't push me, you know, like themselves physically, but just being a driver to be able to say, okay. I want to call. and did all this, so my children, if they decided they wanted to go, and if they decided it was too hard, if I could do it. And I was a non-traditional student, so I didn't go straight out of high. I went back and got my associates when I was... when my mom passed away, when I was... [AGE]. And after that. I gotta do it. something different, and at that time, I just had my daughter, but my children pushed me, because I wanted them to see, like, if your mom is a non-traditional student, and I'm pushing 30, and I'm trying to get some education, you could do it at [AGE], or you can do it whenever in life. You don't have to be a traditional student. he could be a non-traditional student, and now, you know, the generation has changed a whole lot. I got my master's online. That was the first time I ever did an online course.

Striving and doing the best you can. Eventually. Hopefully you will get noticed. But do it... also, my motto is, if you do anything, do it with passion. If you've got to be passionate enough to do the job without getting paid. If somebody said today, like, we don't have anything to pay you, would you still do the job? That's the main thing. So you gotta... Yeah, you gotta have a passion for what you do.

I would just tell them to, just don't ever give up. You're gonna have some bad days and some good days, but you always have to be your own cheerleader. Because everybody's not gonna validate you or your feelings, even when you think they should. But always be your own cheerleader in the background, telling yourself, I can do it, I can do it, I'm going to do it. And never lose hope. And regardless of your situation and your surroundings, if you're really passionate, you gotta be passionate, though, but if you're really passionate about something, God will prevail and open doors that no man can open and close doors no man can close. And that's... I didn't come from a silver spoon or nothing in my mouth. I came from, basically, I wasn't living in the projects, but we... we didn't have the great, you know what I'm saying? situation. I came from a single-parent home. My mom died when I was [AGE]. I'm an only child. So... So, if I can do it... You can, too. And I had cheated. Yeah, absolutely. I went back to school, my daughter was 5. I graduated with my bachelor's, the last 9 months of my... well, I actually went to school every day. I had my last exam, and the next day I had my son. But there's days you're gonna cry, and there's days you're gonna get freaked. Yeah, but you gotta know that at the end of the tunnel, and don't be distracted by what everybody else doing and what they got going on, you gotta stay in your lane. and be. in your lane, don't look around in different lanes, because everybody got different things that they're doing. Some people partying and having a good time, and it looks great. Some people are way ahead of you, and you'd be saying, I should have been doing that 5 years ago, but you're doing it now, that's all that matters.

Boom. not enough resources sometimes to help people when you really want to help them, or, you know, they qualify until they get to a certain part, and then now you can't, you know what I'm saying? It's just, you know. depending on geographically, where you stay, you know, if you stay in a rural area, or you don't, you know, we don't live... I don't live in New York or California, where there's thousands and thousands of resources. There's probably millions of resources people don't even know about, you know what I'm saying? But... smaller geographical area, sometimes the resources is the problem, because There's not enough resources, or you don't have anybody that has that resource for that particular problem. So it kind of makes it kind of, you know what I'm saying, hard. There's a lot of opportunities, especially with counseling. They need a lot more counseling, behavior counselors. They just need counselors, period, to help people, because some people need, you know, you need to vent, you need to let that out. And you gotta... you gotta build that rapport within the community. That's the opportunity, because I have, to network with a lot of people within the communities. a lot of networking. That's the best opportunity, because now I know somebody, know somebody, know somebody that can help me. You know, when I get out in the community, now I know all of these things that can help. Individuals.

Integrity. Being authentic. real, you know what I'm saying? Because you don't get a lot of, you know. You gotta have good integrity, because you gotta be able to say, like, oh, if I'm not standing in front of you, am I still gonna do my job? Yes, I am. If you're not here, am I gonna do my job? Yes. If something happens, am I gonna stand up and do the right thing without you having to stand here and look at me to do it? Strong. Right.