South Side Mother, Daughter Graduate from Chicago State University
Forty-one years ago, Gilda Patterson attempted to be the first one in her family to seek higher education by attending a Chicago community college.
But within months, the then 19-year-old mother of a toddler son dropped out. She again tried attending school at age 35 but left classes that time to help a chronically ill mother.
Last week, the 62-year-old grandmother finally achieved her goal: She received a college degree. Patterson graduated with her daughter, Glamour Valentine, at a fall ceremony at Chicago State University, 9501 S. King Dr.
“I am truly, truly overjoyed,” said Patterson, who received a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “To graduate with my daughter is overwhelming. I thank God. I am really overjoyed.”
Patterson, who started attending Chicago State in 2010, said she stressed the importance of education to her children when they were youngsters.
“We used to live in the library when my children were young,” said Patterson, who had four children, including a son who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1998. “I believe education is important. I have books everywhere.”
Valentine, 27, said she was homeschooled by her mother as a youngster. She said her mother’s passion for education helped motivate her to seek a college degree.
Her mother also helped tutor her with classes that she had already taken, she said.
“When I had to take some psychology classes, I would go to her for advice because she had already had taken the classes,” said Valentine, who got an education degree.
The two South Siders also carpooled.
“We both took evening classes,” Valentine said. “It was exciting running into each other on campus… She would call out to me in the hallways and I would see her. . . We get along for the most part.”
Patterson said she was proud of her daughter because she worked as a teacher at a daycare center while attending classes for her bachelor’s degree. Patterson already had an associate’s degree in early education from Olive-Harvey Community College.
“It was very rewarding going to school with my daughter,” said Patterson who wants to help develop policies dealing with mental health care. “I got to experience what she was learning in school. It was good.”
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