Growing up in Brooklyn with the unwavering support of an attentive mother, PowHERful scholar Suki Ferguson excelled in school. “Through my mom,” she says, “I learned the value of perseverance and resourcefulness. I felt empowered to aim high and navigate spaces where resources were abundant, though not always accessible to everyone.” Suki was selected for a highly competitive public high school, an academic environment that sensitized her further to the disparity of opportunities available to different groups. She saw clear evidence that “marginalized communities often have to work twice as hard just to gain entry into these spaces.”….

PowHERful scholars told us they like the word 'Resilience.' They like what it means: Strength that bounces back. And they agree: Resilience is learned the hard way, from experience and from surviving the worst. In college, with so many challenges coming on at once, much of what is learned goes beyond academics. There's a tidal wave of organizational conundrums, financial straits, social stresses, and relationship upsets. Scholars are forced to face their deepest insecurities and weaknesses. Every PowHERful scholar can look back and trace her arduous path to developing resilience; two have generously shared their stories here....

Paw K’mwee is taking things day by day: life, she knows, is unpredictable. Paw saw this as a child, when she was uprooted with her family from Burma by sectarian violence and escaped across the mountains to Thailand. For years, the family lived in a refugee camp. And then one day, when Paw was eleven, she and her family left the camp and came to the U.S. Everything in this country—the environment, the language, the culture—was foreign to them. In every direction lay obstacles to surmount. Paw knew it would take relentless hard work to learn to navigate this new reality….

Today, we’d like to share the passionate, full-hearted letter that Naina wrote to PowHERful’s founder after receiving her diploma:

Dear Soledad O'Brien,

I am writing to express my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible support provided by your foundation. I recently graduated from the University of Connecticut, an achievement made possible solely through your generous assistance. Coming from a refugee background, the dream of attending college often seemed out of reach….

Who knows what the future might bring? For PowHERful scholar Naina Mishra, who spent her childhood in a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal, this year brought a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut. It was almost eleven years ago that Naina arrived with her family in the U.S. As she faced the daunting challenges of learning a new language and adjusting to a different culture, Naina held tight to her dream of attending college. 

We’re surrounded every day with manifestations of the importance of Black history. Yet just one month a year, in February, we celebrate its importance. This February, PowHERful sent alumna Deshawna Henry to New Orleans to share a celebratory Black history message at a premier gathering of education practitioners and thought leaders.

My name is Ariana Luz Quiñones, but these days I mostly go by Ariluz—it’s a name that suits me. Born in the Bronx and raised in White Plains, New York, I'm a proud Queer and Trans Puerto Rican. My story is a testament to the impact that a perceptive leader and her caring community can have helping a young person thrive. Through the support of Soledad O’Brien and the PowHERful Foundation, I’ve come to embrace my identity, to flourish in college, and to see my way to a fulfilling career of leadership where I can help empower other young people.

Growing up, I always knew I was different. From my energetic childhood to my bold decision to chop off my hair at the age of four, I wasn't afraid to express myself….

A PowHERful scholar shares with us how therapy has made a difference in her life:

“Therapy is a privilege I have been afforded many times in my life. I’ve had 9 therapists since I was 18. This number shocks me because it’s possible I’m leaving out therapists I worked with and blotted out of my memory.

My first therapist counseled me through depression and anxiety. I worked with her and a psychiatrist to see if medication would be helpful.

My second therapist counseled me through sexual assault.

My third and fourth therapists helped me understand my identity as a college student.

My fifth therapist helped me deal with the grief of losing my father….

My first semester at college, I became homeless.

I got my idea of college from movies I’d seen—movies like Legally Blonde, 22 Jump Street, House Bunny, Accepted, and Animal House—so I was not prepared for how different my own college experience would be. It had all started off well enough: I quickly made friends, I joined clubs, and even performed poetry and dance as if I was a Bardon Bella from Pitch Perfect. My off-campus housing situation appeared suitable, secure and rent was affordable—one of my roommates even attended Susquehanna University with me! But suddenly our renter had an emergency and we were literally left without a roof over our heads….

In her speech for Soledad O’Brien’s acceptance of the 2023 Champion of Children award, PowHERful scholar Deshawna Henry shared how she came through an early life of hardship to achieve success in her schooling and career.

“I am originally from the West Indies on a small island called St. Croix. My mom relocated my siblings and me to the United States when I was around 7 or 8 years old. We moved to Orlando, and I thought it was so cool…. Unfortunately, things did not shape up the way we’d hoped. Shortly after we arrived, my mother became very ill; she went on dialysis and could not work….

It was in the forest of Burma (Myanmar) that Paw Paw’s education began. “Life was hard. I remember when I was six years old, I started school. My school was in the forest. There was no building, no electricity, no desks. We were sitting on the ground. The teacher used rocks as a chalkboard. As a student, I used a flat rock to write on and a pencil as chalk. At night, I sat near the fireplace to see and do my homework.”

These days, post-college, Paw Paw works as a Provider Data Services Analyst at Infosys. With PowHERful’s Scholarship support, she completed the four-year college degree and established a career.

As you know, the demands of college are many—and they tend to build over the course of the semester and the years required to complete a degree. Now, mid-semester, two PowHERful scholars relate for us the challenges they’re facing and how they’re working through them.

Naina, at University of Connecticut: Needless to say, midterms can be stressful. There is a lot of studying and preparation that must be done before the exams, and it can be rather overwhelming, especially for full-time students like me, taking multiple classes per semester.

Izzy, at Susquehanna University: You’re right—there were days when I thought I wouldn’t even make it to my senior year of college!

Sally Thomas has already changed the world. One of PowHERful’s current mature scholars, Sally came to the realization that “I was on this earth to help people heal.” For twenty years she provided hands-on care to patients as a Certified Nursing Assistant, a job she found “genuinely humbling, it makes you appreciate others.” Now, as a PowHERful Scholar, she’s earning a degree as an RN (Registered Nurse), a qualification that will allow her to go even further in her calling….

For the first fourteen years of her life, Tara Mishra lived with her family in Bhutanese Refugee Camp in Nepal. Then, ten years ago, she left the camp with her parents, three sisters, and younger brother to settle in Hartford, CT. Adjusting to dramatic differences in language and culture, Tara attended public school in Hartford and went on, with PowHERful’s support, to graduate from the University of Saint Joseph in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work. “PowHERul means Resilient Me,” she says. “The Foundation has helped me financially and emotionally – I always felt supported.”

Ashley Thomas was born in New York City and raised in Virginia. “I spent my whole life planning to become a teacher. My paternal grandmother, a NYC public school teacher for 35 years, inspired me—she taught me to read and write, and I developed a love for reading that I wanted to instill in children.”

Ashley attended Hostos Community College, included childhood education in her studies….

“I am Deshawna Henry, a PowHERful scholar from the West Indies. In 2019, I earned my bachelor’s degree at Southern University and A&M College in Computer Science and Information Systems. Before graduation, I participated in the first IBM Blue Hackathon in Atlanta, GA, a 48-hour team building and software development competition for HBCUs. In 2020, I was recruited for an internship at IBM following the success of the Hackathon….

Perseverance has served Paw K' Mwee well. A Dean’s List awardee this past semester for her outstanding academic achievements at the University of Saint Joseph, she says “I’m proud to be able to make it this far,” and “without PowHERful support and care I would not have been here today.”

For her brilliant academic performance, PowHERful scholarship recipient Sally Thomas made the Dean’s List at Lehman College (CUNY) this past semester.

Further, she’s been asked to be part of the college’s Mentor Collective. She’s excited to mentor new students and help them navigate college, from class selection, study and remote learning, to the personal challenges that will be inevitably faced.

“Reflecting on how the pandemic affected me is proving to be more difficult than expected. The first few months were terrifying and brought with it an enormous amount of anxiety, enlightenment, and curiosity. I was able to help care for ICU patients, in the trenches, for a very brief time during the first wave in New Orleans. That proved to me that I made a sound decision in advancing to become a nurse practitioner….

“COVID has impacted my life in several ways. From wearing masks all the time to practicing social distancing, one of the biggest ways COVID has impacted me was starting a job from home. My job would usually require me to drive every morning, and socialize with my coworkers. However, I have my own space at the comfort of my home, where we have occasional virtual meetings and I get up and stretch at any time. I can even play with my puppy!”