Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow: The Tamara Nicole Harrell Story
By Kayla Miller, ENGL
336.001
Tamara Nicole Harrell
is not the traditional college student. She is 37 years old and has a dream of
owning her own business. At
Frostburg State she is majoring in English and minoring in International
Business. Harrell’s journey for her dream has not been an easy one. She was born
in Washington, D.C., and raised in the city of District Heights in Prince
George’s County. Harrell had wanted to
start her educational journey at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAM). In the
90’s she said that going to this black historical University and getting a
degree was “the thing” to do for African Americans. If you want to learn more
about this historical school you can visit http://www.famu.edu/.
Unfortunately, she was
unable to make it to FAM University. She started at Prince George’s Community
College in the spring of 1994 and then transferred to North
Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. During her time here she
experienced very difficult times in her personal life. She then transferred to
the University of North Carolina to try to move on from the situation. This
plan did not work for her. She then moved back home to District Heights. The situation
she was dealing with caused many bumps in the road for many years.
She loves watching the
Cosby and the Different World show. While watching the Different World Harrell
felt it was similar to her life struggling through college. This movie became
her theme in life. This show made her think about her life and to do something about it.
She said, “In the mist of my dark period I persevered by continuing school and
working and I was determined that the situation would not stop my career and
educational goals.” Harrell graduated from Prince George’s Community College in
May of 2008 with her Associates degree in Business Administration. Harrell said,
“Either now or never” to finish school. Now she is in her first semester at
Frostburg State University for her Bachelor’s degree.
Whitney Huston is
someone who Harrell looked up to. When Whitney passed Harrell realized that life
is short. She said even though Whitney accomplished a lot in her short time
before she passed, she isn’t going to waste time because, life is uncertain.
This incident confirmed her choice in coming to Frostburg. Her family has
trouble understanding why she is going to college. They feel college is for 18-23
year old people. Harrell isn’t letting her family views get in the way and “Some
of them do not know the entire story of what I went through.”
The situation that Harrell
dealt with years ago that had caused her many complications is now in the past. She
is moving forward and stronger than ever. Harrell is a wonderful person who has
had baskets of lemons thrown her way. She now is making lemonade and closer
than ever to her dream.
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