Kelly Parsley - Native American Single Mother of Five

A DIFFERENT SORT OF CHILDHOOD

I didn’t have much stability growing up. We moved around a lot..

Sometimes we lived in apartments

Sometimes in trailers

Once, we even lived in a tent by the river for a few months.

Though we didn’t have money, I had books and the local public library. I loved reading. I was bright, but it wasn’t encouraged. Winning a Spelling Bee didn’t mean ribbons on the wall. When I met successful people like teachers or doctors, I thought, “That’s their life. This is ours.”

EDUCATION IS KEY 

If you’ve grown up in a low-income household where no one’s gone to college, don’t think you’re stuck in an endless cycle. Education is the key to a better life. If you decide to enroll at a community college, there will be lots of people there to support you along the way. I know because I lived it. 

I grew up in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation. My mom, who is Cherokee, raised me and my three brothers as a single parent. She didn’t learn to read or write and left school after the sixth grade, so she cleaned houses to make ends meet. Our rent was $4 a month, thanks to Section 8 housing. 

I managed to finish high school, but I barely learned anything. I attended four different schools my senior year, missed too much school to walk at graduation, and finished over the summer.  

STUCK IN A RUT 

At age 18, I got married and had a baby.

Over the next 10 years, I had four more children. I’d married into the same instability I grew up in. 

It was a tough situation. Part of me accepted being “barefoot and pregnant” because I didn’t know life could be different. But after my fifth child, I started reading about people who turned their lives around by going back to school. I also read about domestic abuse. 

That’s when I began to ask myself… What if?  

What if… I could change my life by going back to school? 

What if… I could actually follow a dream that I never shared with anyone? 

What if… I could become a doctor?

What if… I could provide my children the stability I never had?

I found the courage to get a divorce.  

A NEW START 

A month after my divorce, I enrolled at Tulsa Community College, and that decision changed everything. 

At TCC, I found an incredible support system. Advisors, professors, and tutors bent over backward to help me succeed. For the first time, I felt like someone cared about my future.  

Community college lived up to its name. Whether it was financial aid, tutoring, or help balancing school with work and kids, there was always someone there to guide me. 

When I enrolled, I had huge gaps in my education, testing at a seventh-grade level in math. I cried a lot in the beginning because I struggled. The math tutors never gave up on me. They were there every day, and no one ever made me feel stupid. I also had tutors for chemistry and physics, and with their help, I aced my classes. 

MAKING IT WORK 

Balancing school and raising five kids wasn’t easy, especially as the first in my family to go to college. I got a lot of support from the Cherokee Nation, which helped cover living expenses for me and my children.  

We had to live on the reservation to get support, which meant commuting an hour each way to campus. There were days I didn’t think I could keep going, but the thought of returning to the life I had grown up in kept me motivated. 

Throughout my journey, I met so many people who encouraged me. The best part was the people I connected with at TCC, especially through TRIO, a federal program that provides academic advising, career services, and emotional support. My TRIO advisor was amazing. When I shared my dream of becoming a doctor, he didn’t hesitate. He mapped out my academic path without second-guessing my background or the fact that I had five kids. 

THE NEXT CHAPTER 

I graduated from TCC with highest honors, earning three degrees in two years. Now, I’m finishing my pre-med coursework at the University of Tulsa, thanks to a Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, covering tuition, fees, and living expenses for me and my children. When I get into medical school, it will cover that too. 

Education should be your priority because it’s something no one can take away from you.  

Don’t think education isn’t for you just because you didn’t finish high school, don’t have money, or no one in your family went to college. No matter your background, there’s always someone willing to help you find a way—whether it’s financial support, tutoring, or guidance on your career path.

That’s what I found at Tulsa Community College.