Wednesday, May 10 th, 2006

Patrice Pitts radiates on this ceremonial evening, dressed in graduation black with an adorable daughter clinging to her side. She greets family, hugs her daughter and has a smile and confident presence that makes people look twice. In many ways, Ms. Pitts is the very picture of an OWATC success story: a minority, single mom who was determined to finish college despite tremendous odds. Labels and categories seem to disappear, however, as Ms. Pitts begins speaking. The standing-room-only audience was silent as she told a universally-appealing story of triumph over the daily struggles that tug at students, parents, and everyone who faces obstacles.

Ms. Pitts described her struggles as a single mom with a young daughter who pleaded with her to stay home and play instead of studying or attending class. She said, “I want to point out that I can almost guarantee that there's not a single graduate out in this audience tonight that did not go through some kind of tragedy during their time in school. Myself, I had tons! I mean Tons! We just simply made that choice to overcome them instead of them overcoming us.”

She emphasized the importance of four words that sum up her experience:

1. Choice
2. Motivation
3. Journey
4. Diligence

Ms. Pitts described the choices that students make each day. “We can either choose to do or we can choose not to do. There were some others that made that same choice that we did to start here, but they didn’t choose to complete.” Instead, they have stories that begin something like, “Well, what happened was…” Choosing to complete requires constant motivation, and each student has different reasons for continuing on. In Ms. Pitts’ case, a young daughter provided the motivation to continue on in order to provide stability and opportunities in the future.

She also spoke about the journey that each student begins and the unexpected detours that occur along the way. These detours require diligence and an unwavering commitment to completing the journey.

In closing, she thanked, “the entire supporting faculty for their long hours and days, words of wisdom, encouragement and humor….all the family and friends who supported us mentally, emotionally and physically.”

As Ms. Pitts received flowers and accolades after the ceremony Sheri Semerjian, part of OWATC’s graduation team summed up the sentiments of many by thanking Ms. Pitts for delivering a touching speech and, “Making my mascara run.”

Patrice Pitts is a graduate in OWATC’s Small Business Management program and has accepted a job with Wells Fargo bank in Las Vegas, NV. Her long-term plans include completing a bachelor degree from UNLV and continue growing her Mary Kay business on the side.