MEET the woman who proved her doubters wrong after achieving her dream of graduating from university – despite studying while pregnant and even after becoming a mum.
It was always a lifelong dream of Briana Merriweather to become a nurse and she looked set to realise that dream until she experienced a bump in the road, when she realised she was pregnant at age 20.
Initially, the now 30-year-old was in denial about her pregnancy after missing her period; she waited another month before taking a test after she missed a second period.
Briana began to ‘hyperventilate’ at the news and told her boyfriend that she was pregnant, shortly after the couple moved in together whilst studying at the University of Alabama.
After finishing the term and nearing the end of her pregnancy, Briana claims that she was strongly advised by uni staff not to apply for the next stage of the nursing program.
She insisted that she could be a full-time mum, whilst studying hard to achieve her career goal and decided to apply for the program after giving birth to her daughter.
Throughout her pregnancy, Briana didn’t inform her mum she was pregnant due to her being scared of her reaction.
But she was forced to finally unveil the news when she was eight months pregnant and the birth imminent.
To Briana’s surprise, her mum knew she was pregnant and was waiting for Briana to tell her, which she admitted was a weight off her shoulders.
Speaking about her experience, Briana, from Birmingham, Alabama, USA, said: “The nursing program I was at was pretty competitive, so I was grinding, and school was my main focus.
“Within a couple of months of us moving into this new apartment, I found out that I’m pregnant, and I was so in denial.
“I did not want to believe that I was pregnant – I just couldn’t believe it.
“Once I finally took the test and it was positive, I was literally hyperventilating and could not stop crying.
“I wasn’t devastated that I was having a baby, it was because my dream of becoming a nurse was over.
“Once I came to terms with it all, I quit talking to my friends and avoided running into them on campus.”
She then says further stress came when it was time for her advising appointment.
“As if I don’t already feel like my life is over and I’m never gonna be a nurse, I go to my advising appointment and she recommend that I don’t apply to the upper division because it would be extremely difficult to have a child and get through the programme.”
She went for it anyway after giving birth and ended up graduating while her daughter was still a baby.
“Moral of the story is don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it and also make sure you take your birth control,” she said.
In the comments, people shared their experiences and praised Briana for her pursuance.
If you find yourself in a situation where you need to take time out of university, you have a few options as to what you can do.
The mental health organisation MIND says: “Each course is different in its approach to taking time off from studying. It may be possible to defer the course for a time. Or you could possibly repeat a term or a year.”
Other options you could possibly have include:
One person said: “Advisors are your biggest haters honestly [grinning emoji].”
“Your testimony will help someone during their TEST [hands up emoji]… thank you!” penned another.
A third commented: “You showed the adviser baby. God knew, and you knew, you could do it!!!”
“So proud you didn’t listen to them!!!” someone else wrote.
A fifth said: “I love this story, congrats [heart around face emoji].”
