TYREIRON SEGUE


BATON ROUGE, LA

“I thought I couldn’t. And now I know I can.”

I was the dumb one to everyone.  I was bad.  Why I was bad, I don’t know, but I was the one who was put out of school everyday.  They thought I wouldn’t graduate from elementary school—not even go to college.  When I was little I didn’t talk because I was told to shut up so much.  I just always thought I was dumb. 

I thought I couldn’t.   And now I know I can—so I’ve showed I can.  My life has been a struggle—every day.  I never had my mom in my life.  Her boyfriend volunteered to pay for her ticket so she could come to my high school graduation—and she said no.  My mom wouldn’t give up custody of me, and she wouldn’t send anything out either—so I couldn’t get financial aid. 

Southern University Dean of Libraries Emma Perry—is my mentor.  She has to meet all my friends, they have to have her approval!  She’s become my mom.  I feel like it’s a lot of people that love me.  I feel I have more love than kids with parents. 

I’m interning in New York City this summer.  I start at Spelman in the fall.  The foundation has paid my tuition and made me a more confident person.  I have more to offer the world.

SOLEDAD

Terri had accomplished so much—all on her own.  Without parental guidance or support, and often sleeping on the couches or floors of friends and relatives, she managed to graduate from highschool - in the top 10 students in her class! 

When I met Terri she was many thousand dollars short for tuition to Southern University.  The foundation was able to step in and help pay her tuition, and also get Dean Emma Perry to volunteer as Terri’s mentor.  Dean Perry has been amazing!  She’s strict, and supportive, loving and demanding—a perfect fill-in mother for Terri.  Terri’s great grades made her application to Spelman a shoe-in. 

She’s always been interested in studying fashion and the business of fashion, so this summer we will help with internships at clothing manufacturers and summer classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology. 

I always told Terri that investing in her education was a sure thing—she was very successful without us!  We have been honored to step in financially and help her realize her dream.