Tarrant County College celebrated its newest class of nurses Saturday night with a pinning ceremony, at a time when graduates are needed most.
Celebrating via a laptop screen may not have been the way that Jessica and Alaina Long, graduates of nursing school, envisioned upon completion of their studies. On the other hand, none of his college experience was conventional.
Alaina began her prerequisites for nursing in the fall of 2017 after graduating from high school at just 15 years old.
Inspired by the ease with which her daughter navigated through classes, Jessica followed through the next semester.
“I had already been thinking about becoming a nurse for a while, but I had a 2-year-old girl. So I had to make her old enough, ”Jessica Long said.
As others have done, Jessica had put her own aspirations to raise eight children on hold.
Throughout those years, he had worked part-time as a newspaper delivery or driving for Uber and Lyft.
After her husband lost his job, she knew that she would be the one who would need a career that could provide better benefits and pay to care for her family.
After a couple of summer classes, Jessica caught up and was ready to start nursing school at the same time as Alaina.
As classmates, the mother-daughter duo became the mutual support system, especially when the pandemic meant they couldn’t see other classmates.
“We have been able to study together and share ideas,” Jessica said.
At times, they were also the fiercest competition between them.
“In all the classes I took by myself, I would be the best in the class. Later, in classes with her, she would hit me, ”said Alaina, laughing.
However, on Saturday night, when Jessica was recognized for a 4.0 GPA and rising to the top of her class, Alaina expressed nothing but pride.
“I am very proud of her,” Alaina said. “I know that whatever she has, I got it from her. So we are the same in that sense. She is constantly a role model for me in how hard she works. “
Moving forward, Jessica will continue to work at Texas Health Harris Methodist in downtown Fort Worth as Alaina begins a career in pediatric home health care.
Both will go ahead to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
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