Florida family members united to earn their MBA's this year

Jet, July 10, 2006

Someone once said there's power in numbers. Venita Gilstrap, 50, knows this all too well.

She encouraged her daughter, sister and niece to go back to school with her to pursue MBA degrees. She decided that it was one for all and all for one. It just took a little convincing,

"Oh my gosh! I think I was the one who kicked and screamed the loudest," laughs 45-year-old Wanda Scott-Green during her Jet interview.

Wanda, a pharmacist, and Venita, a computer systems coordinator, are sisters. The two women, along with LaWanda Gilstrap (Venita's daughter) and Brooke Dyett-White (Wanda's daughter) all agreed to attend the University of Phoenix in St. Petersburg, FL, and vowed not to leave one another behind. Along with this big commitment came big challenges for the St. Petersburg residents.

"There were times when each of us wanted to give up," says Venita of their 22 months of schooling, which in addition to their homework required juggling their full-time jobs, social lives and their families.

Somehow they managed to do it. They attribute their success to determination and family support.

"Everybody brought her own talent or her own gift to the table, which helped everybody else," says Brooke, 24, who experienced an additional challenge. This teacher, wife and mother of a 4-year-old gave birth to her second child by a scheduled cesarean delivery, and only missed one day of class. Classes were held once a week.

Brooke laughs now, but at the time, she says it was "interesting." And there were other interesting moments, including the frightening experience of losing homework on a computer (that happened to Wanda), and the unique experience of attending school with your family members.

"It's a very different experience going to school with your mother," says LaWanda, 25, an eighth-grade science teacher.

But none of them would change it, especially Venita. Getting a master's degree with her family was a dream come true. She delivered the class commencement speech, aptly titled "To Dream."

"How awesome it was--the fact that I was able to share the ups and the downs with my daughter, with my niece and with my sister," she says.