Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome to Make the Leap, the official Ross Education podcast, where we explore the real stories, strategies and successes that help our students move from enrollment to employment and beyond. I'm Kristen Beal here with George Rehob and Andy Kephart. George, what are we talking about today?

Speaker 2: 0:32

Today's episode is all about persistence, what it looks like when you're in the thick of doubt, stress and the very real pressure that comes with trying to change your life through education, Whether you're a current student or someone thinking about making the leap. Today's guest is going to give you proof that it's worth to keep going, even when it's hard.

Speaker 1: 0:53

Thanks, george. I'm looking forward to chatting with our guests and learning more about persistence, and today we'll hear from Keisha, a Ross Dental Assistant graduate who knows what it feels like to push through doubt and keep her eyes on the finish line. If you ever wondered whether you're cut out for this, this episode is for you, keisha, welcome.

Speaker 2: 1:16

Let's start maybe with a little bit of background, maybe give us like a snapshot of your early journey, both in terms of life and your career.

Speaker 3: 1:26

Okay, let's see when do I begin. So I've always been interested in the medical field. I'm not too keen on direct patient care, but I had a passion for teeth. I know that sounds weird. Um, uh, being a little kid going to the dentist, everybody's like, oh, no dentist. But I was like, yes, let's go. Um, so I uh developed a passion for dental when I was probably about 10, maybe 11 years old, when I first got my braces. And what really sparked my interest was when my dentist was like, okay, I really need you to take care of your teeth, which I did. But he was like do you realize that your whole entire health starts with the mouth? Any and everything that you put in your mouth is what affects your body, whether it's a good effect or a bad effect. And so that's what got me interested. After high school, I decided that I wanted to go to college and I wanted to be a dentist.

Speaker 3: 2:42

Well, life happened and I ended up having children and I wasn't able to finish school. Needless to say, I became a single parent and I ended up working two jobs. I lived in government housing for quite some time. I was on welfare. I struggled without a vehicle. I was on welfare. I struggled without a vehicle. Things were pretty rough.

Speaker 3: 3:23

Lady that came in who comes in every day and she would always get a Dr Pepper and a bag of pretzels. And she looked at me one day. She said do they ever let you go home? And I kind of looked at her and I was like I'm sorry, what do you mean? And she was like every time I come in here, you're here and it doesn't matter what day or what time of day it is, you're here. And I said, well, sometimes you got to do what you got to do when you have children. And she said aren't you working another job? And I said, well, yes, ma'am. And she said well, that can't be easy being a single parent and working two jobs. And I said no, ma'am, it's not, but you do what you have to do when you have children. And so I ended up ringing her up and she said she handed me her card and she said come see me. And I'm looking at her like where am I going? So I took a look at the card and it said Ross Education. And she said I'll be there, I'll wait on you.

Speaker 3: 4:29

And throughout my lunch break I was very nervous. I tried the whole college thing and I was like this is not for me right now, I can't afford it. And I had all of these excuses. And then I remembered my father. Before passed away, he told me to live life to the fullest, make the best of everything. He said never make excuses. Excuses are the nails that build a house of failure. I thought, well, all of these excuses, I don't have the money, I don't have the transportation, I don't have the transportation, it's all going to work out. So I went ahead, took a chance, went to Ross and the lady was sitting there and she was kind of emotional Because I showed up.

Speaker 3: 5:17

She was you know, and I'm like I don't know how this is going to work, but OK. But she explained the programs to me. I explained to her that pharmacy tech was not for me, because math is just my math. Just don't math Right, it just does it. So she gave me the option of medical assisting and dental assisting and dental assisting. And I thought, oh, you've got dental assisting. So I went into dental assisting and it was a ride. It was an amazing ride.

Speaker 3: 5:54

Ross is not like any other school that I've ever been to. It's smaller classrooms. I have bad anxiety when it comes to being around a lot of people. So just walking into the classroom when she did the tour, I seen everybody in there Wasn't a whole lot of people. Everybody was just so excited to see me and I hadn't even enrolled yet and they were just so amazed to see me. And the instructor was awesome. She welcomed me, showed me around and I thought, ok, I can do this. Well, we go. And she says well, now you have to take a test to see if you can come in. And I thought, what kind of test? And she was like, oh, it's just a little small test. And what she failed to do is remind me that I'm not good at math.

Speaker 3: 6:50

So I got into the admissions room and I did my test and the math part came up and I was freaking out. I was like I did not pass. I did not pass. She said don't worry about it, we'll check your scores, see how you did. And I passed Barely, but I did it. So that was my first obstacle. Then she was like now let's go ahead, do your application, but we need to take your payment. And I was like wait, what payment? And she was like well, it's $50. And I was like I don't have $50. And she was like she ended up. It was very emotional. I started crying because I was excited, because I just knew that I was going to be somebody, I was going to do something and make my children proud of me. She said $50. And I thought, oh man, I don't have that. She actually pointed me into the right direction and I was able to get that $50. And I was able to start at Ross the very next week and it's been nothing but positivity since then.

Speaker 2: 7:59

So, keisha, you mentioned life is hard or life got hard. Could you, as comfortable as you can, if you're willing to share, can you give people some detail of how life went sideways on you?

Speaker 3: 8:14

Of course, and I don't mind going into detail because I noticed that a lot of students I've been in their shoes, I know exactly where they're at. I can. I've been in their shoes. I know exactly where they're at when you work. You're working two jobs and it's not enough and you've got children who are hungry and you have to decide whether you want to pay your light bill, keep your lights on or send your children to school with holes in their clothes because you don't have enough money to get them new clothes, or do you pay the rent for that month. That's where I was at. I walked about four miles a day back and forth to work. I didn't have money for a bus fare. I didn't even know how I was even going to get into Ross. I didn't know how I was going to have the transportation because at that time Ross did not have the hybrid option. So it was mandatory that you come to class every day was mandatory that you come to class every day, and it was a huge struggle for me Huge.

Speaker 3: 9:31

But the thing is is that my father I'm a preacher's kid and my father taught me a whole lot of stuff, and the one thing that he did teach me was to have a little bit of faith. And closed mouths don't get fed. And so when I talked to this particular lady at Ross I'm sorry, I don't mean to be emotional, but when I talked to this particular lady here at Ross, she told me all you have to do is communicate with me, me. All you have to do is communicate with me. I can help you. And that's what I tell all of my students that I enroll. Don't let life define you. You define life. You make life what you want it to be.

Speaker 3: 10:21

Okay, so your kids? So you're struggling to feed your children? Ask somebody, communicate with somebody. Hey, where do I go to get help with this If you're needing a ride somewhere? Hey, um, how do I get a bus pass? How do I get a voucher? How do I? Is there someone in the classroom that could help me get back and forth to class? Until I can get on my feet? All you have to do is keep communication open and everything will fall right there for you.

Speaker 2: 10:53

So, keisha, there's an argument in America that if you work hard, all will be good right. If you get up every day, work as hard as you can, then you know you should be able to do well. And you obviously work two jobs and you were still having a difficult time making things work. Why do you think we fall in love with the concept that if you work hard, that takes care of your financial needs or your money issue? Why do you think, as a country we have and maybe that's kind of a broader, but from your personal experience why do you think that's a misguided belief that all you have to do is work hard?

Speaker 3: 11:37

Because people don't take into consideration I want to say life itself, the obstacles that life throw at you. Everybody is so money, money, money, money, money and money makes people happy, but only for a little bit of time and my whole thing was okay. I'm going to make money, I'm going to be okay If I can just get this dental assisting um certificate and I'll be able to get a job and I'll be able to take care of my kids. But the thing was that once I got to that point where I was able to properly take care of my children, I still was not happy because I felt like the only way that I was going to be happy is if my children were to look at me and say that's my mom and I'm proud of my mom.

Speaker 3: 12:33

We've been homeless before, and we were. We were homeless, we were sleeping couch to couch on the floor and one night my son he was about a year old, he was really sick and he was laying on the floor at a friend's house and I thought to myself this is not fair to them. This is not fair that they don't have their own beds to sleep in, that they don't have their own food to eat, that they have to be careful about what they're doing, because they're in somebody else's house and you don't want to mess that up, because then you don't know where you're going to go the next day if someone kicks you out. And I promised my children that I would never put them in that situation ever again.

Speaker 3: 13:17

And because of Ross, because I was able to complete school and be able to. You guys helped me find a job, a good paying job, and I only had to work one job. That was amazing all by itself. That was a huge life changer for me, because I had always worked the two jobs. So working that one job and being able to take care of my children was just amazing. And it's all because of Ross and I have said this even before I started working here that if I ever got the opportunity to let people know how Ross helped me and to be able to talk to the people that helped me, I would forever be grateful.

Speaker 1: 14:06

Keisha, I have a question for you. How did you like? When did you study? How did you work this out between schedules? Did you say I'm studying at this time of the day because it's the best for my learning? Or did you say my kids have this and I have this, so I have to study now, or whatever?

Speaker 3: 14:27

So it was kind of hard. I'm not going to lie, it was very hard, but it's all about time management. So we had a routine. I set my kids up with a routine and in the mornings I would get everybody off to school, get everything situated. I would have about 15, 20 minutes of spare time and I would just go over my notes, see if there's anything that I need done for that day.

Speaker 3: 15:02

At that point in time we didn't have the laptops here, so we had a syllabus. So I would go and look at my syllabus and see what all I needed to do for that day. Go and look at my syllabus and see what all I needed to do for that day. So while I was working on my lunch breaks, I would take my Roth backpack, my big old blue, rolly backpack with all my books and everything, and I would take them to lunch and I, instead of eating lunch, I would do my homework. When my kids finally were able to go play sports for the school and things like that, I would be there, I would pay attention, but I was also reading and taking notes and things like that. So anytime that I had spare time, I was in my books and I made it to where I was able to study and work and make sure that I was still that mom for my kids.

Speaker 2: 15:57

Keisha. Out of curiosity, if you take a quick snapshot of your life today, what does it look like?

Speaker 3: 16:04

My life is amazing. My life today is amazing. I'm not even going to lie to you. I did not picture 10 years ago. I did not picture me sitting here actually working for Ross I really did it and making very good money. My children two of them are grown now. They are 21 and one's almost 20. My 21-year-old she actually is a Ross student here. She's in the medical coding and billing. She just finished the classroom portion. Now she's working on the extern. She is also enrolled in Howard University. She's trying to become an orthopedic surgeon and I never thought in a million years that I would be able to write a check for $4,500 to help her with her tuition, with the remaining of her tuition. My oldest son he is at East Tennessee State University now and I'm writing a check for him in a couple of weeks. Although they do have my bank account crying, it's okay because I'm able to do this and it's all because you guys took that chance and let me do what I needed to do and you guys were right there to help me.

Speaker 2: 17:29

You know, we spent a lot of time on this podcast talking about poverty. We're talking about overcoming obstacles and today, obviously, we're talking about persistence, and you came to Ross already with the persistent part. You already were working two jobs. You already were walking to work. You know four miles. You know not the easiest places to walk in Johnson City. You know not the easiest places to walk in Johnson City. So when you look at it in terms of what a different student maybe may need, that may have been in a similar position but maybe not with as many resources available to them, what do you think on the receiving end, on the Ross side, what do you think Ross can do better to help connect with students who are truly dealing with meaningful obstacles, whether it's poverty, housing insecurity, transportation, insecurity, whatever it may be. What do you think we could do better on our end? Think we could do better on our end?

Speaker 3: 18:32

Honestly, I think you guys are amazing.

Speaker 3: 18:36

I really do. Just having that. It takes a lot for a person who hasn't had anything or who is struggling to come to someone and swallow their pride and say I need help. And the last thing you need is for to build up your confidence to even go ask someone and then that person be rude or shoot you down or make you feel less than what they are. And Ross I have noticed that Ross is nothing but positivity. From the time you walk through both of those doors into the lobby, into your classroom, everybody is cheering you on, everybody is welcoming you. Hey, welcome to school, even though you've been there for about six months, but it's always something new.

Speaker 3: 19:32

My thing is is and I've noticed that a lot of my students, they that I enroll, they do have transportation issues, especially the ones that live in the bigger cities, a few of the campuses to ask is there something that we have in place to where they can get maybe a bus voucher or a bus pass or something like that? That's mainly the big thing with my students that I get is the I don't know how I'm going to get there, and then I end up researching myself in their city and because I'm familiar with some of the resources you know. Talk to social services. Sometimes they give out bus vouchers. Let them know what you're doing, show them that you're in school and you're trying to be somebody and you're trying to do the right things, and majority of them they end up coming back to me and they're like oh, miss Keisha, thank you so much, and you know, if you don't have a ride, see if I have messaged a lot of the directors and hey, do you guys have students that live in this student's area? She's having issues getting back to fourth class. She really wants to do this.

Speaker 3: 20:56

I think the main thing is the transportation part. So I feel like if we were able to maybe communicate with some of the transportation people or maybe some agencies to help see if we can get students like vouchers or, you know, bus passes for a discounted rate. Or even I know in Johnson city they have a program where if you're in school, you've got to show proof that you're in school but you take that enrollment agreement to the bus station and they will give you a bus pass for the month.

Speaker 2: 21:37

How was your? How was your transition to the first job? What did that look like?

Speaker 3: 21:41

After I graduated.

Speaker 2: 21:42

Yeah, after you finished your dental program.

Speaker 3: 21:45

Oh man, it was super awesome. So I worked for Dr Jason Cunningham super awesome doctor. He noticed that I struggled. He had two locations. He had one in Johnson City and one in Irwin Tennessee. The main one was in Irwin Tennessee and that's where he wanted me to be. Irwin Tennessee is probably about 10, I'm going to say I'm going to say about 20 minutes away. So I was having issues getting back and forth there. He knew that I had missed a couple of days of extern and he knew that I lived in another city. So he put me over into the Johnson City location and I went in there my second week at Xtern and he kind of just let me go. He was like I don't want anybody messing with her, you let her do her thing. I want to see what she can do.

Speaker 3: 22:50

Well, this particular time the lady that was working for him for 20 years decided that she didn't want to come in that day and left the student by herself, and so I was like you know what? Let me put on this lab coat, let me show these folks what I got going on here. So I ended up assisting him. We had brought in over $40,000 that day all by myself, and he was amazed. He looked at me and he said Are you sure you've never dental assisted before? And I said Well, you got my paperwork right there, sir. There's my paperwork. And he started laughing. He said you, it seems like you've been doing this for 20 years. I said it's all because of Ross and how they teach.

Speaker 3: 23:45

And right before graduation. I was graduating on a Friday and he came to me and he was like do you want to work for me? And I said I haven't even graduated yet. Like tomorrow's graduation, he's like well, yeah, I'll be there. And I said okay. And he was like well, think about it and let me know. Well, of course, I had already said yes before I even walked out that door, but I wasn't going to tell him that. So I went to graduation. He was there and he came up to me and he said so, I'll see you Monday. And I said sure. And so I got the job. But what I didn't know was that the lady that had enrolled me was actually keeping in communication with him the whole entire time on how I was doing and what was going on, and he got to experience himself the drive that I had and the. He got to see what that, that this was very important to me, and so I graduated on Friday, and on Monday I was making money.

Speaker 2: 25:00

So, keisha, if you reflect back and you brought to the table a lot, of, a lot of hard work, a lot of good ethics, a lot of persistent, but you also met two good people. It looks like you met somebody at Ross that was there for you, and then you met Dr Cunningham, who was clearly supportive and willing to do his part. Do you think the two that combination of working hard and maybe being somewhat lucky that you ran into good, two good people made a difference?

Speaker 3: 25:35

Yes, and I'm going to. I'm going to say this when you show people that you really want something and you're not going to let your obstacles stand in the way, whether it's you don't have that transportation, or you don't have the money, or you don't have this and you don't have that, you don't let that stop you and you still get to where you are. People are more willing to help you and get you to where you need to be to be successful. And I always tell my children no matter what you do, don't let anything stop you from getting to your goals. And when you make your goals, make them small enough to where you know that you're going to be able to accomplish them. Don't make big goals for yourself. Make little small ones, little steps, and eventually you'll get to that big goal and by the time that you get to that big goal, you're ready to enjoy life.

Speaker 3: 26:40

And um, I just I think that if I was to have told that particular person and if I was to have told Dr Jason no, thank you, I think I'm going to go a different way. I don't think I would be where I'm at today and I don't think that my children would have the education that they have and that they are getting. And I don't think I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think that I would be such a good person Because I would have been angry with myself for not trying, for not getting out there and showing my children it's okay, life happens. You pick up and you go on and you don't let what's happened in the past define your future.

Speaker 2: 27:37

Yeah, not easy, right. When we stumble, it's always hard to get back on our feet. It's a really remarkable story, I think. To a certain extent I'm a huge believer that to come out of a difficult situation whether it's poverty or something different it really takes more than one person to get you out of it. You know you do have to work hard, you do have to show up, and half of the battle is showing up, but you really need a helping hand along the way and it looks like you got that and you got the support. Before we get to the wrap up here in a bit Kisha outside of Ross, outside of the doctor what do you think was your biggest support system that helped you or potentially can help other people in the same position?

Speaker 3: 28:28

The biggest support system. I didn't really have anybody but myself, but I can say it was. It was no one but God. From you know, I've been through a whole lot in my life. I've been through a lot of losses, I've been through a lot of trials, I've had a lot of errors to pop up, but it's always and my father taught me this at a young age it's always that mustard seed of faith that'll get you to anywhere you need to be. That's all you have to have and it will move a whole mountain.

Speaker 3: 29:13

And I am a living testimony of that, because at one point in time I was ready to give up, I was ready to call it quits, I was ready to be, you know, hand my children off to somebody else and just forget the world. But then I remembered that mustard seed of faith. And when I did, that's when all of this stuff started falling into place for me. That's when all of my angels I call you guys my angels, because if it wasn't for you all, I would not be where I'm at today and I'm still growing because I am actually enrolled into the um healthcare administration program Um, I will be done in February, fingers crossed, if I can get that math going, um, um, and I plan on going even further with that. I do Um and hopefully one day, um, and hopefully one day Ross will have more like a bachelor's degree or something and I can come here, because I just don't see myself going to another school.

Speaker 1: 30:27

I can honestly say that. Well, I have to say that that's one thing, that you've learned lots, but you also have given learning to other people that have been around you as well, and I actually remember that quote when I trained you and onboarded you, when you said excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. I never, I never forgot that, and I feel that your persistence has also impacted other people too along your journey, and I'm grateful to have met you.

Speaker 3: 30:56

Thank you, you guys are so awesome. I love it here. I do.

Speaker 2: 31:03

Keisha. Maybe the last question, unless Andy wants to jump in here, but we asked you if you take a quick snapshot in terms of where you are today and you felt you're really in a much, much better place. Are you surprised at that?

Speaker 3: 31:23

I am Well kind of, because, like I said, I didn't see myself. Because, like I said, I didn't, I didn't see myself. So I, when, when I became that single mother, I thought that my life was just over, I was just going to be my. I grew up. I'm going to tell you my age. I grew up as a latchkey kid OK and kindergarten. I was getting off the school bus, going home, opening that door, closing it behind me, locking it and waiting for my mom had set it up to where it was. She would call me, but she would let the phone ring three times, hang up, do it again and then the third time she would call, I would answer because I knew it was her. And the third time she would call, I would answer because I knew it was her and we had that.

Speaker 3: 32:23

I was a latchkey kid, gosh, probably about, I'm going to say, until I was in maybe sixth or seventh grade and I watched my mother after my father had passed away, I watched my mother work so hard, so hard. She is about the strongest woman that I know. She worked three jobs and was going to school to get her master's degree. How I felt having not getting to have that childhood that most kids had, because my mom had to work so much and so I had to kind of grow up faster than what most kids have to, and so I didn't want that for my children. And the way that I was going it was like for my children and the way that I was going it was like you're about to be in that same boat as your mother if you don't do something about this.

Speaker 3: 33:19

I am very, but I knew that I was going to be able, I was going to be able to do this. I was determined to do this. I was determined to have my name on somebody's piece of paper saying that I accomplished something. And my next goal is to have my children, as I walk across the stage, have my children standing there watching me and say that's my mom. You don't know what I know, but that's my mom. That's my biggest goal right now.

Speaker 1: 34:02

That's why we have the greatest job in the whole wide world right.

Speaker 3: 34:05

Keisha, yes, and I try with all of my students that I talk to. Amanda laughs at me a lot because I call them my kids. Because I feel like sometimes that I am their mom and I'm like listen, don't do this, don't do that, go here, go there. But I feel like, because I've been in their shoes and I know what's happening and I know what's going on and I know, I see what's fixing to happen. I want to stop them and be like look, stop Stop doubting yourself, stop making excuses, just do it. Just be that Nike sign, just do it.

Speaker 2: 34:54

You know it's a. I've made a career of arguing that overcoming challenges and overcoming poverty is more than a one-person job job. It's so even difficult for me to imagine how you did Ross, how you got a job and still tried to raise two kids along the way, and you did it with no support system. You did it really basically finding the strength, but you met somebody at Ross that was willing to help you and then you met a good doctor that was willing to help you and the combination got you to where you are today. And I know to a certain extent many of our students may not get that opportunity, they may not get that person that they run into in life that's willing to help them. But it is a remarkable story when you consider, you know, when your hard work, your persistent, was matched by kindness of others and that helping hand makes such a big difference in the lives of our students.

Speaker 3: 36:01

Well, as long as I'm here, I want all these students to know that it doesn't matter if I've enrolled you or not. It doesn't matter if I've enrolled you or not. If you need those few words of encouragement and I tell every call that I end I always tell them here's my number.

Speaker 3: 36:33

If you need me call me, even if it's just words, for words of encouragement, because those words of encouragement may put that spark into them and like, okay, somebody does care, somebody wants me to do this as much as I want to do this, let me go ahead and see what, what happens. Everybody needs that positive person in a world full of negativity, and I believe that the lady at Ross was my positive in my world full of negative.

Speaker 2: 37:00

Yeah, and I hope people who listen to this podcast you know that your words will touch how they interact with students, with anyone really overcoming some serious life issues. I always feel, to a certain extent, that kindness is underrated. You know we can do so much better as humans. You know, if we're willing to provide someone a helping hand, give them a lift, especially when life is difficult. So, keisha, I truly appreciate you taking time to be with us today. It's a really remarkable story about what human spirit can do in a very difficult and challenging environment that you found yourself in working at a gas station trying to raise two kids, whether through homelessness or all the other challenges that you've encountered. You found your way through this and I'm really thankful we get a chance to tell your story on this podcast.

Speaker 3: 38:00

I appreciate you and it was my pleasure. And again, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity, giving me that opportunity back in 2015, 2016,. And the opportunity now, and I will forever be grateful to you guys. And if anybody's looking for college, if it's something that we have, go to Ross, there's no question about it. Go to Ross, fill out that application. It's free now. It's not $50 anymore.

Speaker 2: 38:36

We're going to have to put you on the billboard.

Speaker 3: 38:41

Only if I can have that big smile and those two thumbs up there, I'm good to go.

Speaker 2: 38:46

There you go, Keisha. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 38:51

Here's the truth Anyone can start a program, but not everyone finishes. And when you do, you're not just earning a credential, you're building confidence and marketability and a story of resilience that no one can take away from you. If today's episode spoke to you, share it with a fellow student or a friend who might need a little boost. Episode spoke to you, share it with a fellow student or a friend who might need a little boost, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a conversation that helps you make the leap. Until next time, keep going. You got this.

Speaker 4: 39:26

Thank you for listening to this episode of Make the Leap. You can follow along at rosspodcastcom or the podcast platform of your choice and subscribe to make sure you don't miss the next episode.