By Mary Barringer

Sophomore Eulaythia Bowers finds the prospect of being out in the world just two short years from now exciting and scary.

The eldest of nine children, Eulaythia says she is close to her siblings and is “starting to get close” to her mother. Eulaythia’s mother had her when she was just 18, and her siblings followed back to back. Eulaythia says life wasn’t always easy in such a large family, but she wouldn’t be who she is without that experience. “We all took care of each other.”

Eulaythia is no stranger to hard work. She is an honor student and a single parent. Two-year-old son Tre’marion, who attends Head Start while Eulaythia is at school, has given her focus and determination. She wants a future that not only gives him a life better than her own, but one that gives people pause and causes them to say, “Wow, she actually made something of herself!”

Indeed she is. In fact, she is making very deliberate and thoughtful choices about her future. She is on the high honor roll and takes college and life prep courses including Art, Culinary, Algebra, and Biology. Her path to join the military, earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or both seems set. She has already researched both options — both positions are respectable and provide great pay. More importantly, when she graduates, Tre’marion will be close to four years of age, she can take him with her if she chooses to join the military.

Eulaythia’s parents are in the picture, but her father struggled financially after the divorce from her mother. How does someone so young do it? She lives with her grandmother who helps her take care of Tre’marion and provides Eulaythia with a foundation of stability. Whatever path she takes, she wants her grandmother to feel that her support has not been in vain, that Eulaythia is going to “be something great and pay her back.”

Eulaythia’s path may take her out of Mounds to a place where she doesn’t have to travel 30 minutes to an hour to get to a store or see a movie. She would love to have a home in Florida where she can wake up to a view of the beach.

She sees a future where life has returned to normal, and people are happy and healthy, free of COVID and other diseases like cancer. No matter where she lives, we can rest assured that this thoughtful and determined young lady will change the world. To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton, if Eulaythia has seen further by standing on the shoulders of her mentors, teachers, and role models, then she is twice as determined to share her own sturdy shoulders with her own children, not only making us proud but enabling them to see an even better future.