A 33-year-old single mother with five children is graduating with a law degree from the Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law this May and as she marks this milestone, Ieshia Champs is mindful of all the struggles and adversity she had to go through in order to finally achieve her dreams.
Champs told reporters that she had been dreaming of becoming a lawyer since she was seven years old. Growing up in an unstable family without any father and a drug-addicted mother, however, Champs resigned herself early on to the possibility that her dream might not happen.
Champs fell pregnant at an early age and had to drop out of high school to work and support her family. In 2009, Champs was pregnant with her fourth child when a series of unfortunate events happened in her life.
That year, her partner died of cancer and her family lost their house to a fire. Champs' mom also suffered a stroke and she felt suicidal as one misfortune happened after the next.
Champs turned to her local church for help. The pastor's wife at the Ministers For Christ Christian Center in Houston told her of God's plan for her.
"God told me to tell you go back to school to get your GED because that lawyer that you want to be, you're going to be it," Champs relayed what Louise Holman said. She does not remember ever telling Holman her dreams of becoming a lawyer.
Champ's sister encouraged her to join Bishop Richard Holman's church more than a decade ago. She now regards the Holmans like second parents after they inspired her to pursue her studies at the Houston Community College and the University of Houston. These qualifications opened the doors for her entry to Thurgood Marshall School of Law.
The mom of five's story and her pre-graduation photo with her kids has gone viral thanks to Bishop Holman, who took the images. "All I can do is give glory to God," Champs wrote in the caption to the monumental photograph.
