A mother's sacrifices pave way to daughter's fulfilling life
Growing up, Ayanna Roberts witnessed her mom making one difficult choice after another.
Her mom encouraged her to be better, and Roberts was willing, despite the obstacles.
That meant leaving home at 17 to live on her own and find work that could help her pay rent. That meant taking risks, like when she started her own business with all her savings and a little more than hope. And that meant being the first in her family to earn a college degree.
Along the way, she faced many hardships, but it has all led to one moment: On May 22, Roberts graduated from The University of Baltimore with a B.A. in Digital Communication.
“My mom always made it clear, although these are the choices that I made, you do not make these choices. And I want to just give her a huge thank you for very thoroughly instilling that in us and making the sacrifices that she had to make,” Roberts said.
Roberts’ mom had her when she was just 15 years old. She remembers, as a child, going with her mom when she had classes at community college. Family health issues and financial struggles forced her mom to stop short of graduating.
Roberts knew around age 12 that she wanted more for herself.
“I always imagined myself having my own family and I never wanted my children to be in the positions that I was in, I wanted them to have normal childhoods and not be exposed to as much as I was exposed to,” she said. “Out of my grandmother’s three children, my one aunt went to college, and I just saw the things that she was able to do for herself: buy a car, buy a place, not live in fear of losing all that she had worked for.”
Roberts enrolled at the Community College of Baltimore County and pursued her associate degree at the Essex campus. She completed it and then transferred to the University of Baltimore in 2018.
Reimagining her future
A year in at UBalt, Roberts had to drop out to switch to a full-time role at work where she could make financial ends meet.
She was doing well for herself as a cosmetologist and then the COVID-19 pandemic shut down her business. Without access to her clients and another skill set, she felt stuck.
“I felt useless in a way like, I’m not important. That desire to become essential and important is what made me say, OK, it’s time to come back and get a college education and gain another skill set, and also learn how to network and the other things that you learn in college,” Roberts said.
“I felt this need to complete something for me and my mom,” she continued. “It was something that I wanted, and I also did this for her because she was never able to.”
Roberts re-applied to UBalt’s digital communication program, finding some much-needed encouragement from the admission staff and a warm reception in classrooms filled with working adults like her.
This time, she was determined to stay.
The interest she would find in communication is written in her personal history. Her grandmother, who was deaf, gave Roberts a fresh perspective on how body language and other non-verbal cues can also help people communicate.
Later, when she started her own salon, she quickly learned the necessity of a business plan and marketing strategy to build her clientele. She started designing flyers and building a website, but knew she had a lot to learn.
Roberts leaned into graphic design, an area she started to appreciate, and found classes at UBalt that fostered her passion. At one point, when she was questioning herself and her skills, she emailed her design work to one of her professors. He told her exactly what she needed to hear.
“He reminded me, he’s like, ‘You are just starting your journey, and you are exactly where you’re supposed to be in your design process,’” she recalled.
Finding a home at UBalt
Roberts accepted positions on campus that helped her apply her class lessons. She honed her skills as a photographer and graphic designer with the Office of Marketing and Creative Services and built upon her communication skills as a student ambassador and tour guide for the Office of Admission.
Before graduating with her bachelor’s, Roberts was admitted to UBalt’s M.A. in Integrated Design program.
“I would like to become a graphic designer. I would like to start out working with different agencies figuring out, do I want to work in a nonprofit setting? Do I want to work for a big agency or a small agency. And just getting that overall experience,” she said. “I think that also comes from my salon experience. I’ve worked in corporate salons, private salons for myself, and I was able to really navigate what kind of workplace I want to be in and what kind of culture I want to be in.”
Student groups that Roberts joined once she found a way to immerse herself in the college experience taught her about the value of surrounding yourself with the right people. The Women of Color Student Association helped her realize her voice and opinion of herself matters as much as others’.
The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) and Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), both honors societies she earned her way into with strong grades, taught her about leadership and introduced networking opportunities. Through student life, she found friendships she never expected and will never forget.
“UBalt really feels like home to me,” Roberts said. “I love the fact that it is a smaller school. So, I do love the fact that we aren’t just a number. Even if people don’t know us by name, they will remember us by face, that I can promise. I love that any experience I’ve had, like joining a group and both of my work studies, I’ve always been welcomed with open arms. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Reflecting on her college experience, Roberts admitted she didn’t always think she would reach her graduation day. There was one semester when a family situation forced her two teenage brothers to move into her one-bedroom apartment with her and her then-new husband.
When that was resolved, new challenges arose—job changes, a broken-down car, more job changes. She handled each in stride, driven in part by tenacity, in part by necessity.
“I didn’t think that I would get here. And I really wanted to give up again, especially when I had my brothers, but what kept me going was knowing that they look up to me,” Roberts said. “I didn’t want them to say their fathers aren’t around either. So, I didn’t want them to say my mom didn’t do it. You can do it no matter the cards, we’re dealt. I think that’s the only thing that saved me from not giving up.”
Going First is an ongoing series highlighting the students, alumni, faculty and staff part of the UBalt community who were the first in their families to earn a bachelor's degree. Read more first-generation stories.
